Child of Hatred
by Exorcist Aki-Chan
Summary: She reveals only her name, Innocence and impassive nature. While in search of her brother, she found friendship unexpectedly. But when her sanity is threatened by her own Innocence, what could possibly save her? OCs. KandaxOC. A bit angsty.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own -man**

**A/N: This is my very first Fanfic so please don't mind the grammar, or if you could please give me pointers on how much my story meets your standards I'd really appreciate it. In this way, I'll be able to deliver better written stories and chapters later on. Please note that the first few chapters will be switching points of view quite often, as I cannot tell the story in the OC's point of view just yet. It's just so that we can have a bit of background info before we get in depth with what the plot is. Also note that this Fanfic starts after we've met most of the main characters (main excorcists and other characters) and before the search for the generals start. The timeline may get a little jumbled up, but I won't change many elements of the story, such as the Ark, because they're main points that should be left intact in order for this fic to flow smoothly. Anyway, I won't bore you anymore with this useless (or not) drabble, so please enjoy the story!**

**- Aki-chan**

**Possible warnings stated below.  
**

**WARNING: Violence, graphic scenes, OOC-ness(maybe?), Coarse language (in some of my A/N's or in many parts of the story, mostly said by Aki or other characters), BAD GRAMMAR (please help! ;D), etc. (more warnings - or not - as the story progresses).  
**

**Chapter 1: Random movement**

* * *

The screams of Akuma resounded in the calm, night air and as the mechanical corpses rained down, a small figure stepped gaily out of the jumbled heap. Not a soul was about in the cobblestone streets and purple clouds obscured the moon, shedding little light on this scene of horror. The person quietly strode away, only to be stopped by the feel of a gun barrel being pressed at her head. Instead of trembling in fear, she did the exact opposite. Her body shook with mirth which threatened to spill out of her mouth as an uncontrollable fit of laughter. As the clouds moved away the moonlight shone ghostly pale upon the face of the girl, whose facial expression was pulled into a mocking smirk.

"Well? Aren't you going to kill me? Mr. Akuma?" She threatened turning slightly to leer at the machine,

"Damn you, Exorcist! Know your place; I have the upper hand now!" The Akuma continued to point its gun at the girl, who had managed to slaughter his entire group,

"Is that right? Well you could have run back to your precious _master _Earl, but..."

She was cut off due to the Akuma attempting a sneak attack, but she retaliated by grasping her hand around the Akuma's neck, catching it off guard and killing it. As it disintegrated and died, she deactivated her Innocence and finished in a whisper

"...you just had to come crawling back to me," She kicked away the corpse, "that was your final mistake,"

She turned on her heel and strode off as she was intending to do before. She abruptly stopped to keel over and cough up blood due to her previously sustained injuries; nevertheless she smiled and turned her gaze to the sky, unseeing and ignorant.

As her gaze shifted from the sky, back to her path, then to the unsettling Akuma, she set off at a brisk pace down the street. The wind picked up and made her long hair dance erratically. The last remnants of the battle that just commenced earlier were the red trails running out the corners of her mouth and several gashes marring her lower torso, anyone who saw her now would tend to stay away as she is immediately marked as 'dangerous'.

As she blandly wiped away the trails, the girl arrived at a train station. She went right up to the edge of the tracks, almost leaning over so she would be directly above the tracks. The sound of an oncoming train made her straighten up and turn towards the reverberating noise. As it sped towards her she caught the back railing and hitched a ride, smirking as she did,

"I'm nearly there, the Exorcist Headquarters... The Black Order"

She made herself comfortable as the train rapidly disappeared into the night.

A very similar scene was being played out in Spain as Lavi and Allen finished up their mission. Allen used his left arm to slice through the air,

"_Cross Grave!_" He cried as the attack sent the last of the Akumas to their deaths. He deactivated his Innocence, then turned to call Lavi who was fighting a little way away, "Hey! Lavi! Are you done yet?"

"_Hiban!_" Lavi commanded the pillar of fire as it engulfed the last Akumas on his side. The way it devours everything in its path always reminded Allen of a snake made of fire, coiling and twisting about before dissipating into thin air. Lavi then stood triumphant on the head of his enlarged hammer, grinning from ear to ear, "Yo Allen! I'm done on my end, plus I've got the Innocence!" he waved it in front of his nose before carefully tucking it inside his jacket.

Allen heaved a sigh at the mission finally being completed, and then he straightened up and hollered back, "That's great; I'll give a report first then we'll head back to headquarters!"

The train ride back to headquarters was somewhat quiet, even with Lavi babbling on and on about one of his endeavours to avoid work with Bookman, which usually ended up failing and earning him a kick in the head. In one of the brief silences when Allen just stared out the window, he remembered there was something he wanted to bring up,

"Um, Hey Lavi?" mumbled Allen, Lavi turned his attention to him; Allen ventured further still fixing his gaze on the scenery outside, "Have you heard about the Innocence disappearances? I hear they started a couple of months ago"

"Just rumours from finders I'll say" Lavi yapped, fidgeting about with his zipper. He stopped then continued in a low voice, "Disappear? I wouldn't reckon, I bet they were stolen, watcha' say 'bout that eh?"

"Stolen?"Allen said tearing his gaze away from the window, showing sudden interest in the matter,"What makes you say so?"

"I hear the finders guarding the missing Innocence were knocked out, but when they came to the Innocence was poof, gone, vanished" Lavi continued, this time fidgeting with the Innocence he had taken out from his jacket, twirling it around in his hands, "If it was an Akuma they'd be dead by now, but any normal human wouldn't have been able to get to the Innocence. So the only possible conclusion would most likely be..."

"...An exorcist" Allen finished, an awkward silence followed,

"...or so I've heard" Lavi added grinning tucking the Innocence back in his jacket, Allen sweat dropped at this,

"Just a lil' something I picked up from Bookman" Lavi continued in his rambunctious voice,

"You don't say..." Allen mumbled turning to the window again. He started to ponder why an exorcist would go about trying to steal Innocence, it just didn't piece together. Sometime during his musings Allen fell asleep, amongst the silent patter of the rain outside the window and Lavi's incessant Jabbering.

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**A/N: So how was my first try at a first chapter, eh? I know, I know, It's really crap. But I'll get better at it, I promise! My chapters range from about 1000-1500 words (or if I've got a spark of inspiration, I'll write more!). I know it's a bit short but that's all I can manage right now, 'kay? Anyhow, please tell me what you think in your reviews or messages or whatnot. Note that these first few chapters will include a couple of typical lines that the main characters use (again, I don't own -man) and until we get in depth with the story, things will get - or at least I hope - a little more original. My updating rate is uncertain at the moment, because I'm really busy right now, but I'll try and fix this soon as I can. I get told by most people that my stories just drabble on and on and... you get the point. So I'm trying a faster approach at this writing, tell me if I suck, oKay? Just review! please?**

**- Aki-chan**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Grayman**

**A/N: Yay Yay! I got reviews on my first chapter! Thank you so much, you know who you are! I won't bore you with awfully long Author's notes so I'll stop now. So here it is! The second chapter, hope you enjoy reading it!  
**

**- Aki-Chan  
**

**Chapter 2: The Next Mission  
**

* * *

"Allen? _Allen?_ Wake up Allen!"

Allen awoke to the knocks outside his door. It creaked open slightly and Lenalee poked her head though. She smiled warmly at him upon seeing his aloof, half-asleep expression,

"Hey Allen, You awake yet?" Lenalee greeted him, stepping fully into Allen's room.

Allen was back at HQ after getting back from their latest mission. He was tired when he arrived so he went to sleep early. He rubbed his eyes blearily and stifled a yawn,

"Ah, Lenalee! Was there something you wanted me for?" Allen asked sitting up from his bed.

Lenalee stepped fully into his room, brandishing about the clipboard she usually carried, "Uh huh, Komui's got a mission for you,"

"Ah, I'll be right there!" Allen replied. He hopped out of bed as Lenalee left, closing the door behind her.

Allen peered about groggily as the last vestiges of sleep left him. The rays of sunlight peeking in through his window warmed the stone floor beneath him. Allen grabbed his exorcist jacket and made his way to the door. He stopped, as he had forgotten Timcampy. He smiled at his scatterbrained state and turned to call the golden golem,

"Timcampy!" He called. Nothing happened,

"Timcampy?" he tried again. This time though, something caught his eye; his pillow was twitching and as he pulled it off the deranged Timcampy, it nestled in the familiar spot upon Allen's head. The poor golem must have been squashed all night,

"Sorry Tim, I didn't know you were there," Allen apologised.

Tim bit his nose as punishment, then started tugging at his snow-white hair. Allen rubbed the sore appendage tenderly as he pulled on his jacket and made his way up to Komui's office. On his way there, Allen passed the dining hall. The tempting smell of breakfast cooking wafted out the door. Allen heard his stomach rumble in longing as he hung his head, remembering he hadn't had breakfast yet,

"Hungry... Starving... Must... Have... Food... Hungry... Starving... Must..." Allen whined continuously, images of toast, dango and all the like dancing in his head. His complaining continued all the way to the head supervisor's office, annoying anyone who happened to meet him on his way.

Komui's place was cluttered as usual, papers covering every possible floor space that the once-tiled flooring was nowhere to be seen. The desk where Komui sat was piled high with documents all ready to be signed, whilst the sofa in the middle of the room was occupied by the person who Allen least wanted to see. Allen's posture stiffened considerably as he turned to the fuming individual,

"Kanda... You're here too?" Allen asked the black-haired teen making his voice as cold as possible,

"You're late, baka moyashi," Kanda retorted just as stonily, not even turning to meet his stare,

"The name's Al-"

"Ah, Allen, You've arrived," Komui said cheerfully ignoring the argument which usually ensued between the two, "now we can get to discussing your mission, sit down Allen,"

Allen nodded and made his way cautiously over carefully stacked document piles. He chose to sit at the farthest end of the sofa to be as far away as he possibly could from Kanda, who was quickly developing an impatient and – if not annoyed – _murderous_ aura the longer they were in the same room. This could possibly be because Allen's stomach is growling louder than ever, or because he was going on a mission with Allen, or because he was annoyed at Komui, or something. Komui who was still seemingly ignorant of the situation started a long briefing - which was not at all brief - to inform them of their mission,

"... You should leave as soon as possible," He handed both Kanda and Allen a dossier, "That's all! You may go now," Komui gave an exaggeratingly large wave to the two of them, noting their expressions - one bemused and the other annoyed - and still acting overly oblivious.

Kanda spared not a single word and left the room as soon as the briefing was done. Allen stayed behind for a brief moment intending to ask Komui about the missing Innocence cases, but thought the better of it and left for the dining hall. His stomach gnawing at him, a constant reminder of his hunger.

Komui heaved a sigh as the two exorcists exited the room. He adjusted his glasses, deep in thought, then started pacing anxiously around the room. At that moment, section leader Reever came into the room carrying a pile of files ready to be checked by Komui,

"Komui, here are some-" Reever cut himself off when he noticed the anxious expression on the supervisor's face. He set the pile of files down on Komui's desk and scratched his head, absent minded,

"You're worried about 'that', right?"

"Hm, yes you could say so..." Komui replied, not looking at him,

"Then why were you so-"

"Cheerful? I did that so they wouldn't think anything was wrong," Komui continued, cutting off Reever again.

Reever frowned at this and handed him one of the documents he brought in earlier. "Komui, take a look at this" He said hesitantly.

The bespectacled supervisor took the file and scanned through the contents. His worried expression back on his face,

"Another one..."

"This time in Austria" Reever agreed a note of worry now evident in his voice, "They may be headed here, to headquarters,"

"If that happens, we'll just have to hope that their intentions are good," Komui responded, returning to his work, "all we can do is wait,"

Reever, seeing that Komui will say no more on the subject, decided to leave the room, leaving the supervisor to his silent pondering.

* * *

Lavi scanned the dining hall with his one green eye for the lovable, white-haired boy they all knew as Allen. '_Aha!_' he thought as he quickly spotted a food mountain not far away from where he was. He made his way over to the unsuspecting beansprout and took a deep breath,

"Mornin' Allen!" Lavi bellowed from behind Allen.

The deafening yell promptly made Allen spit out his dango halfway across the room, startling a group of finders in the vicinity,

"Ha? Wha? Lavi!" Allen cried turning this way and that and finally spotting the red-head snickering behind him, "What did you do that for! You made me lose my dango!"

"Sorry 'bout that, just wanted ta get a good reaction out of ya," Lavi said, leaning on the table smiling cheekily,

"Heard ya got a mission with Mr. Soba fanatic," Lavi mentioned indicating the dark-haired exorcist, "Care ta fill me in?"

"Uh, yeah, Komui sent us on a mission to locate some missing finders," Allen said picking up another dish from his half-finished food pile, "They found Innocence when HQ lost contact with the group. No word from them in 3 days and they're getting worried," Allen finished his meal at an inhuman speed and continued, "so basically Kanda and I have to locate them and report their status," Allen drawled when he got to the mentioning of Kanda, "Ah! And retrieve Innocence if it's there too," Allen finished on a brighter note.

Lavi nodded in understanding and proceeded to ask, "So where are you two headed for this?"

"Someplace in Germany, I think," Allen responded packing up the scattered plates and stacking them neatly,

"You've got your work cut out for ya then, don't cha?" Lavi mused aloud adjusting his eye patch, "Leave ya to it then!" he did a two-fingered salute and bounced away merrily.

Allen could only sigh as he left behind the dining hall and all that gloriously, delicious food. But he couldn't delay any longer as Kanda called out – clearly annoyed – for him to get a move on.

Allen brought his now-empty dishes into the kitchen and exited the dining hall, trying to catch up to Kanda who had left mere minutes before he did. Allen spotted Kanda a little later, waiting impatiently on the platform by the water canal. The fact that he had to wait for the "beansprout" had evidently pissed him off.

"Oi! Baka moyashi! We're going," Kanda growled at him as he turned to the boat,

"The name's Allen, BaKanda!" Allen retorted as he followed after him, clambering into the boat himself.

A finder who was on the platform gave a low bow to the exorcists. Allen who was ever-friendly decided to introduce himself,

"Hello," He greeted, holding out his hand and smiling, "My name is Allen Walker,"

The finder was notably surprised, but shook his hand gratefully "I've heard about you Mr. Walker. My name is Michael, I'm new here and I will be your finder for this mission. It's a pleasure to be working with you,"

"As am I," Allen smiled politely.

The scoffing of Kanda could be heard all throughout the exchange and in turn, Allen stared pointedly at the exorcist with annoyance until he spoke,

"Get the pleasantries over and done with. We don't have that much time, but you seem happy to waste it getting friendly with finders!" Kanda glared at the two of them.

Allen remained impervious to Kanda's attempt at intimidation, but Michael seemed appaled by his behaviour. He leaned down to whisper in Allen's ear,

"Um... Is he always like this?" He murmured nervously.

Allen turned to face the finder and gave him a pleasant - and somewhat malevolent - smile, which shocked him indefinitely. "Oh yes, absolutely," He muttered back, somewhat indifferently.

As Allen seemed to stare into space, cradle his knees, rock on his heels and laugh maliciously, Kanda gave him a look that said _'What the heck...'_, then turned back to the front as if nothing had happened.

He then said to Michael without even looking at him, "Leave that moyashi and his crazy thoughts to himself, we're wasting time"

"Ah, yes! Right away," Michael answered straightening up. He started to push off the platform, then paddle down the canal. Every so often he looked at Allen when he murmured something that sounded like _'Wha? It's Allen, Bakanda!' _or _'Ha ha ha, Bakanda's an idiot, ha ha ha'_, and this annoys the exorcist in the front greatly.

As the finder steered through the waterway, he had only one thought running through his mind, _'Exorcists certainly are strange people. Somewhat nice? Yes. But strange'_

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**A/N: And yes! The second chapter is complete! It seems kind of drabble-ish, but I'll start picking up the pace soon. Wow! This chapter was even longer than the first! I guess it's because I got so many ideas to put in this chapter... Again, thanks for reviewing and pointing out my grammatical issues! (Yes! I'm getting better thanks to you people!). Also, if you want a faster update rate, just tell me so. I'll do my best to keep up with you all. Well, that's enough for now. Don't forget to review! Until the next update, bye!  
**

**- Aki-Chan  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Grayman  
**

**A/N: Chapter 3 is up! Sorry for the lateness of the update, I had some... er... trouble with the computer and it had to get fixed. I'm super happy about the reviews I've gotten, they give some excellent feedback. Glad to know that those of you who read this story, actually like it somewhat. I intended to make this chapter longer, but there were already 2000-ish words and I don't want to drag out a chapter, then blank out cos' I've got no ideas left. But no, I am not dragging out this story any longer than it needs to be. I've decided it's plot and everything. Just need to work out a few kinks and such, then it'll be done!... Am I garbling again?... I'm garbling again! No! Okay... Just... Read... Please...**

**- Aki-Chan  
**

**Chapter 3: Disturbing Dilemma  


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The train headed for Germany pressed on in the relentless rain, and the exorcists were finding it hard to keep the peace. The awkward silence that continually ensued created unnecessary tension within their compartment, and the information booklets they were reading only served as a minute distraction. One of them had to break the silence. Unfortunately though, it just so happened that the one who did was Kanda. He sharply closed the documents he was reading and scoffed, glaring out the window,

"When will this stupid rain stop?" he muttered to himself.

"It is the rainy season, so it's to be expected," Allen responded tonelessly, not looking at the scowling exorcist.

"I don't need to get told that by a moyashi like you," Kanda retorted, now shifting his glare to the cursed boy.

Allen looked up from the dossier he was reading and snapped. "It's Allen! And you're the one who asked," he said. He too closed his booklet.

"Who would ask you? Go jump off the train or something!" Kanda hissed, his patience wearing thin.

"That sounds more like the thing you would do, Bakanda!" Allen retorted, now raising his voice.

This argument could have continued for ages on end. However as they kept adding fuel to the fire, Kanda happened to be the one who reacted first. He unsheathed Mugen which was at his side and aimed a stab at Allen's neck, barely missing him as the teen ducked to the side, shielding himself with his now-activated arm.

Kanda spoke first. "Baka moyashi!" he spat, venom lacing his words.

"Huh?" Allen exclaimed, looking at where Mugen's blade pierced the stuffing of the seat. He glanced in exaggerated, mock horror at the sword wielding exorcist, "What did you do that for! Look what you did, Bakanda! Look what you did!" Allen cried, pointing urgently at the punctured seat,

"I don't care!" Kanda snapped, roughly retrieving his sword and holding it dangerously close to Allen's face, "Hope you like being bald, because that's what you're going to look like once I'm through with you!"

Michael had been standing inside the compartment the whole time, watching them bounce their retorts at each other back and forth like a tennis match. He stared in shock and slight amusement at the scene being played out now, right in front of his eyes. Allen who was on the left side of the compartment was yanking Kanda's ponytail with his right hand, while trying to prevent Mugen from running him through with his activated left. Kanda on the other hand was on the opposite side of the compartment and was trying to kill Allen with his sword, all the while trying to push him away by sticking his left boot into his face. The teens still didn't seem to notice that the finder was still in their presence as the fight dragged on. Even when the train pulled to a stop at their destination, they kept on fighting. At this point, Michael deemed it a suitable time to intervene. He cleared his throat loudly and the two exorcists turned to glower at him.

"What do you want?" They said simultaneously in a dark tone.

Michael heaved a sigh. "The train has arrived," he said absentmindedly and pointed out the window.

The two of them looked outside, then at each other, then stood up and regained their bearings. With an irritated scowl etched on his face, Kanda sheathed his Mugen and strode off the train, shoving the finder aside as if he weren't there. Allen however pulled a face at Kanda's retreating back and stopped for a moment to rub his cheek roughly, where Kanda took the liberty of digging in his boot.

"Ugh! That Kanda's so bothersome!" Allen grumbled, stepping off the train as well.

The platform they disembarked from was unusually empty, the only people who were coming and going were the ones on the train and the few who were boarding. There weren't many people on the train either, and the few who did exit the train, carried themselves about in a cautious manner. They didn't even stop to say hello to one another, and even the train conductor seemed eager to leave as soon as possible.

"What's going on here?" Allen said to nobody as he glanced around subtly.

Michael also seemed to contemplate the reasons behind the apprehensive behaviour displayed by the people; however Kanda on the other hand merely scoffed and continued walking.

"Doesn't really concern us, just keep moving," he growled to the other two and strode off in the direction of the town. But although he said this, his eyes kept scanning the area uneasily.

They came upon the town they were assigned to soon enough. It goes by the name of Truilz. It was a small, yet industrial town which based its income on the mining industry and agriculture. When they got to the town, its populace was limited and its people were wary. The exorcists were finding it difficult to gather information, let alone finding someone who will talk to them. The locals rarely ever answer their doors and they almost never go outside. The only places that seemed active in the town were the refineries by the mines and the sparse number of street stalls, so the exorcists tried their luck with them. Allen approached an old man working at a fruit stall, the man's eyes widened in potential fear and backed away slightly.

He pointed a questioning finger at the approaching figures. "_Wer bist du? Fremde, wer bist du?_*****" he stammered.

"Ah... Excuse me..." Allen began, but was cut off by the man, who surprisingly spoke English fluently.

"Who are you people? What do you want from me?" he stuttered.

Allen put up his hands in a reassuring manner and continued to approach the old man. "Please sir, we mean no harm. We were wondering if you could answer a few questions for us," he said, softening his tone of voice.

The man didn't lower his shaking finger and continued to question them, his voice getting higher with every statement. "I don't know anything! You're with _them _aren't you! You're with those monsters!" he accused, backing further and further away.

"No, no! We're just..." Allen denied. Then he stopped as the last line the man spoke registered in his mind, "wait did you say 'monsters'?" he asked, taking on a more serious tone.

Kanda shoved past Allen and stared down, intimidating the cowering man on the floor. "We're Exorcists, here to get rid of the Akuma you speak of," He said, slowly approaching the old man. He then grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. "Now tell me where they are," Kanda growled into his ear and lifting Mugen's blade up to his neck.

The man paled at the sight of his sword and nodded hurriedly. "Th-They're down by the m-mines, they always come at n-night," he stammered and lifted a shaky finger to direct them.

Kanda let the man roughly fall to the ground and strode nonchalantly to where the mines were. After a rushed apology to the man, Allen hurried after Kanda and began to mutter disapprovingly.

"You can't just demand answers from random people, Bakanda. You were really rude too!" Allen said, nodding his head as if agreeing with himself.

Kanda picked up his walking pace, as he seemed to have heard the bean sprouts' rambling. "Shut up. I don't care if you can't, I just did," He grumbled, tightening his grip on Mugen's hilt.

Allen slowed down to match paces with the finder, who was behind the exorcists. "Isn't _he_ the sociable one?" he muttered into Michaels ear, glowering at Kanda as he did.

As the group made their way to the mines, a shadowy pair watched from afar. If they were to resemble anything, one was shaped like a reptile and the other, a book. High in the sky, the level 2 Akuma were busy discussing the new arrivals.

One of them spoke. "_Exorcists!_" it hissed, a grin stretching across its reptilian-like face.

The other turned to its companion. "_See? I told you if we stayed here, they would come,_" it snickered in reply, its pages opening and closing as it spoke.

"_What about the Innocence?_" The other asked the book.

"_Wait for them to find it, then kill them and take the Innocence!_" It said in reply.

The Akumas cackled maliciously and flew away, contemplating their next move.

Soon enough, the exorcists came upon the openings in the ground which were the mines. A large building stood not so far away, smoke billowing from the opening in the roof. The faint flickering of a fire was seen shining through the open door, and the sounds of metal clanking were heard as well. Since it wasn't night yet, the exorcists decided to take a look around the building – which they later found out to be a refinery of sorts – to see if they can gather any more info. Unfortunately though, there was nobody in sight as they entered. So instead they staked out at the entrance of the mines until nightfall.

For hours on end they waited and still no signs of active movement from the mines. Just when they were about to give up waiting, Allen heard the audible click of an Akuma's gun, just as his eye activated with the familiar whirr. He turned sharply towards the sound and saw a horde of Akumas pointing their guns in his direction. Allen activated his Innocence and turned to call his companion.

"Kanda, the Akuma are here!" he called to the area where Kanda and the finder were stationed.

Kanda was already fighting his own set of Akuma as he turned to reply. "Don't need to tell me twice moyashi, can't you see I'm busy here!" said Kanda, as he stuck his sword through another Akuma.

Allen turned back to his group of Akuma as they began firing. He blocked most of the shots with his left arm as they came, and then leaped to slash through an entire row of Akuma at once. They slowly pushed him back with numerous numbers, leaving him no opening to retaliate. He found himself backed up against Kanda and the finder, who had also been pushed back, and staring face-to-face with a level 2 Akuma. The customary, grotesque body-shape made him feel sick, but the soul he saw hanging above filled him with feelings of pity.

As he shook his head to clear his mind, the level 2 spoke to him. "_I got you, exorcist!_" it said, tongue lolling out in a mocking manner.

Allen inched away from it as he transformed his arm into a gun. He tried to shoot the Akuma, but it dodged before the bullets hit. Allen turned around as he heard another voice behind him. It came from what looked like an oversized book, which Allen soon found out was also a level 2 Akuma, due to his left eye.

"_What are you doing? You were supposed to wait until they found the Innocence!"_ It snapped at its companion.

The reptile Akuma merely smiled a wide smile and snickered. "_But it's so tempting... I just couldn't resist! I want to kill them now!_" It lunged towards Allen, catching him off guard and nearly crushing him.

Allen managed to throw off the Akuma and start shooting at it and the others. Though it seemed to be working, it wasn't good enough. Their numbers just kept rising and the exorcists were getting pushed to their limits. Kanda and Allen backed up against each other, and both of them were out of breath.

"Where are they all coming from?" Allen said to nobody, as he cut down another row of Akumas.

He received no reply as the Akumas closed in on them. The sky was nowhere to be seen as the Akumas had blocked all openings to the outside, and had formed some sort of pocket. Allen was finding it harder and harder to breathe as he cut blindly into the darkness. He knew they weren't able to last much longer.

* * *

***A rough translation: **

**Wer bist du? Fremde, wer bist du? = **_who are you? Stranger, who are you?  
_

**A/N: So how do you like the story so far? I hate the title of this chapter... Having to use alliteration... it's so frustrating... Just to let you all know, the next chapter will be much more interesting than this one, oh I assure you of that! This chapter's just what happens in the mission (part I it's more like...). I haven't had time to proofread this chapter properly (sorry!), so there's bound to be some grammatical errors... But thanks to the one who helps me with my grammar**** (You know who you are!)****, I can give you better chapters and storywriting as I go along! So please review! Tell me what you think, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.**

**- Aki-Chan  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Grayman**

**A/N: Chapter 4 is here! I try to keep my updates within a week or so, but now I've got this extra program dumped on me, so be expecting delays from now on... Just to make this perfectly clear, Aki-Chan is a completely fictional character that came from my imagination, and no, I'm not writing about me, even if my pen name is Aki-Chan. Anyway, I did my best with this chapter, so all of you just enjoy, okay?**

**- Aki-Chan  
**

**Chapter 4: First encounter  


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**

A girl stumbled blindly in the dark, deep below in the mines. The only sounds that could be heard were her breathing, the rhythm of her footsteps and the slow dripping of water from a stalactite. These sounds echoed throughout the tunnel she was in eerily. The stale air of the underground was making her nauseous, and her love of 'The Outside' wasn't helping either. After tripping on a stray rock she fell, face down on the floor. Spitting out the gravel in her mouth, she stood up staggering and hastily groped at the walls for support. It's cool, rough surface lightly grazed her fingertips, causing her to shiver automatically. As she tried to catch her breath from the surprise of the fall, she grasped her necklace and fondly felt the engraving set in the wood. She smiled as she read the indents:

千代, 亜希

_Chiyo, Aki_

It was a name. Her name. If it were to be read in proper English, it would read: Aki Chiyo. It was her one consolation, the only thing that calmed her down. Though it would be worthless in value, she treasured it beyond anything else. It was just a vertical, rectangular, wooden piece attached to some string. She knew sentiments would slow her down, yet she hung onto this memento like a child. In some ways, she was a child, a stupid and pitiful one at that.

Willing herself to let go of the necklace, she sighed tiredly and began laughing, as if her stupidity was something amusing. Facing forward once again, Aki persisted, an expression of determination set on her face. She continually felt her way along the walls of the mines, until she came upon a cavern of sorts. It was here she found what she was looking for. A small green orb faintly illuminated the area with its' ghostly glow. A small smile graced her features as she sighed in relief at her discovery.

"This is it." Her voice echoed in the darkness. As the girl approached the orb, it seemed to emit a low hum. It almost sounded like music, like the crystal was talking to her; calling her. It made her strangely excited as her hand closed around it. It felt warm, yet things she knew it could do were as cold as ice. Discarding that thought out of her mind, she put the glowing ball of green inside her coat. Once the glow of the orb disappeared, it became pitch black in the cavern.

She turned to look down at what she knew were bodies, sprawled at her feet. A couple of them had worn cream coats, and the other men were probably miners from the town. Though they weren't dead, they lay unconscious. She could still hear their faint breathing as she exited the cavern, careful not to tread on the bodies.

As Aki left the gaping cavern, she looked back once more at the group of people who still lay unconscious on the floor. Then she looked away and began making her way back to the surface, closing her eyes for a moment before continuing.

"What use is there to burden myself with their safety?" She questioned aloud, a faraway look in her eyes. She felt a sense of foreboding come over her, yet she ignored it indefinitely.

There was no reason to come to their aid; she had no obligation to help them. Her hand absentmindedly felt the bandages wrapped around her lower torso, the soft material concealing the almost-deadly wounds beneath it. It had only been a little less than a day, before her wounds closed enough for her to bandage it up. The wrapping was untidy yet competent, as it continued to do its' job nonetheless. However, she frowned slightly as she trudged on.

"I really have to be more alert. I could have died if I hadn't stopped the blood flow this time." She began running, hastily now, because she knew it was already night time outside. She didn't want to stay too long in these places, especially at night, because Akuma are lurking about and she didn't want to meet them in her current condition.

Nevertheless, a moment later she heard a resounding explosion above her head. She looked up subtly as grains of rock fell from the ceiling, the particles glancing off her body. She listened intently for any other sound, and then she heard it again – This time, even louder. Aki knew that there wasn't any way to avoid fighting now, the Akuma were up above and she couldn't risk staying in the mines until they left. She activated her Innocence and the black material coated her hands, forming her weapon instantaneously. She silently wondered while she was running, what they were fighting to create such a racket.

With faint glow of the moon visible ahead of her, she rushed out of the entrance and glanced around. She didn't have to look far to see what was going on. There was a swarm of Akuma right in front of her, and a really big one at that. Her eyes travelled from those on the ground to the ones floating high in the sky.

"I really hoped to avoid this..." She muttered to herself, using a finger to brush hair out of her eyes.

They were swarming around something that she couldn't see. Though as much as it irked her curiosity to what they were so interested in, it didn't change the fact that there were Akuma to be destroyed. Despite her wounded condition, she suddenly felt herself getting eager to fight. Giving in to her wants rather than her needs, she attacked; a wide – and almost frenzied – grin appeared on her face.

As Aki sprung forward to her first prey, she felt the adrenaline already pumping through her veins. It gave her an exhilarating feeling as she bounced from one enemy to the next, catching them off guard. Though her clothes were splattered with sickening Akuma blood, she didn't care. Though her body protested at the strain it was being put under, her desires wouldn't let her stop. She just kept fighting, laughing as if it were something entertaining.

The girl started to attract a lot of attention from the rest of the group, as she reduced their numbers one by one. Though through the confusion of it all, she still couldn't see what the Akuma were focused on. However, she was soon confronted by a level 2 Akuma whose abilities appeared to be at its peak. She deduced it may have been a leader of the swarm.

It licked its long tongue over its scaly lips and sneered menacingly."_Stupid exorcist, we were about to kill those fools until you showed up_," it said stepping closer, "_no matter, now you die!_"

And with that, it lunged at her with its large claws, a snarl ripping through that oversized mouth of its'. It barely missed her as she avoided the attack by stepping to the side. Aki barely had enough time to turn and face it before it attacked again, and this time it didn't miss. Its' claws cut deep into the skin of her right shoulder, causing her to hiss involuntarily.

It dragged its tongue over the warm liquid dripping from its claws, and then grinned sinisterly. "_How do you like that? You'll be dead soon enough, but I won't stop there_," It said mockingly then slashed at her again. "_I want to tear you, rip you and kill you!"_

She was surprised at how fast the Akuma was, as she struggled to follow its' movements. She turned once more and poised herself for attack. It pounced again, but this time she was ready for it. Using her Innocence, she countered the Akumas' attacks equally as they clashed again and again. Carefully studying the Akumas' movements and contemplating its superior speed, she devised a plan of attack.

* * *

Meanwhile in the midst of the Akuma swarm, Allen noticed that the Akumas surrounding him were dropping in number, and that slivers of light were peeking through the mass now allowed him to perceive exactly where the Akumas were. Encouraged by this development, he then began to force back the swarm using his gun. Grateful to taste air which was not tainted by Akuma blood, he sucked in large amounts of it and almost fainted due to the action. However, he got up again and began to check his surroundings more carefully.

He was surprised at the Akumas' abrupt change in behaviour, as they began spinning in wild circles and shoot bullets randomly. He chanced a moment to glance at his companions questioningly, yet he received no answer as they were busy with their own battles.

When he turned to look again, Allen began to see a little of the outside where someone was engaged in a battle with the level 2 Akuma he was fighting before. He wanted to get a closer look at the new arrival, but a loud explosion nearby, brought him back to the present and he remembered he was still in a precarious situation.

Soon enough, the swarm was reduced to a meagre number of 6 level ones and the level 2 that the stranger was fighting. Allen cut down another pair of Akuma, when he smelt something deathly familiar. It was a repulsive scent, yet it was something he encountered very often in his type of career. He shuddered slightly as he spoke the one word that came to his mind.

"Blood..." Allen murmured. He turned sharply in the direction the scent was coming from, his eyes widened at what he saw.

The stranger from before had large gashes, running across the length of her lower torso. She grasped at it desperately, trying to staunch the blood that was already pooling on the ground around her, dying the rocks below her a dark crimson. As she dropped to her knees, something tumbled out from her coat, something green and glowing. Allen's jaw dropped, as he recognised the orb as an Innocence piece. Unfortunately, the Akuma she was fighting also recognised the Innocence and made a grab for it.

"What are you doing? Baka moyashi!" growled a voice from behind him.

Allen turned to face the back of an extremely pissed off Kanda, still fighting the remaining level ones. Kanda destroyed another Akuma and barked at Allen, not even looking at him.

"Stop standing around and get the Innocence!" He snapped, invoking Kaichu: Ichigen on another Akuma.

At any other time, Allen would have yelled at Kanda for calling him 'moyashi'. But seeing he made an important point, he wasted no time in attacking the Akuma using his gun and retrieving the Innocence. It was too busy focusing on the girl that it hadn't heard Allen behind it, until it was too late. He deactivated his Innocence, knowing that his job was done. However, Allen didn't notice the girl standing behind him until she attacked. His head hit the ground with a painful thud.

Picking himself up, he touched his face and found something warm and sticky. A trail of blood was running down his face and his right eye, he frowned slightly at this. Then he looked at his other hand, his jaw dropped open once again. Allen realised that the Innocence he was holding was gone, and the retreating figure of the girl was seen escaping into the mines.

"Ah... Wait!" Allen called, running after her.

As the two of them descended into the mines, the only source of light visible was the Innocence, which the girl neglected to put away, and was still holding in her hand. Turning this way and that, she weaved through the tunnels, yet Allen was always tailing her, to her surprise and frustration. Each time Allen caught up to her, she sped up a little, until Allen finally saw her stop ahead of him. As he skidded to a stop, he activated his Innocence and took up a defensive stance.

"Who are you, miss?" He asked cautiously. "I can tell you're certainly not an Akuma," he stated, silently noting his left eye.

She finally turned to face him, expression blank and still gripping the Innocence. The girl remained silent, despite how Allen readily awaited her answer. Then she frowned at him and tucked the Innocence inside her coat, which was still drenched in the blood flowing from her injury. Allen silently wondered how the girl was even moving around in that condition. Then she opened her mouth and murmured something so quietly, that Allen had to strain his ears to hear what she said.

"_Tenbatsu, activate!_" She whispered, taking an offensive stance.

The effect was almost instantaneous. As Allen watched, shock evident on his face, the girl's weapon formed. From the leather-like, fingerless gloves she was wearing, it appeared to disintegrate into a black liquid that wound itself around her arm, creating sleek, metal-like, black gloves that went from her fingers and stopped just before the elbows. Luminous red rings began appearing on where the finger joints would be, as well as a large one around the wrist. These rings appear to be embedded into the black material and glowed slightly, whenever she moved the corresponding joint.

Allen regained his composure and started to question her with a serious tone. "You're an exorcist?" He asked, chancing a step closer to the girl.

In turn, she stepped backwards away from Allen, still not saying anything and as cautious as ever.

"My name's Allen Walker, I'm not your enemy," Allen reassured, deactivating his Innocence as proof. "But my mission is to retrieve that Innocence, so perhaps I should hang on to it," He said holding out his hand to the girl.

She glanced at the hand offered to her for a moment, then backed up, narrowing her eyes in a manner which didn't seem to trust him. Once she was several paces away from Allen, she placed a hand on the wall and it crumbled on contact. She then used the newly-made hole to try and escape. Allen dropped his hand just as quickly and gave chase, sulking at his failure to convince the girl.

* * *

**A/N: So whatcha think? I think I may have put a little too much description in this chapter, but if it's fine with you, it's fine with me. I hope I described Aki's weapon okay, I'm not too got at detailed descriptions, so if any of you can't picture the weapon, I'll gladly explain it more later. The characters used to spell Aki's name may not be accurate, but hey, it's the best I can do. Thank you to all who reviewed my story, much appreciated! Ah yes, I forgot to mention this, but if any of you have any questions regarding the story, feel free to ask about it, either in the reviews or a PM is fine. But all in all, tell me how you think the story is so far, so please review!**

**- Aki-Chan**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Grayman. I only own this story and Aki-chan.**

**A/N: Chapter 5 is here! This chapter is the ending result of the first mission in this story, so basically a part 2 to chapter 4. Should I start naming my chapters in the chapter selection box? I initially didn't want to name them, because if people who scroll through using the drop-down button were to see the subsequent chapter's names, it may become a dangerous spoiler, so should I? Hmm... While I am pondering this highly important decision, you all just read and enjoy, okay?**

**- Aki-Chan**

**Chapter 5: Findings  


* * *

**

Aki's running pace gradually slowed, the pain from her injuries were taking effect. She silently cursed the level 2 for tearing up her bandaging handiwork, as well as reopening her wounds which had closed from the day before. The Innocence that lay in her hand shone brightly, proving a very useful light source in the deep tunnels. All went according to plan. However, Aki didn't count on the coming across the boy, so she attempted to lose him, but to no avail. It should have been easy for her, yet if it weren't for her injuries, she would have been faster. Aki silently wondered where her power and energy went. It came every time she needed to fight Akuma, yet it would not help her in a situation against a human. She hated that.

Attempting once more, she tried to slow him by breaking supporting pillars every now and then with her Innocence. Yet he always found a way around them and was catching up to her fast. The boy who called himself Allen Walker was very persistent indeed, and this annoyed Aki to no end. She didn't want to confront people like him... at least not yet. These kinds of people ask too many questions that she may not be ready to answer, and that will surely cause more problems for them both.

As she wandered out of her thoughts, Aki looked ahead and noticed they were getting close to the cavern where she found the Innocence. An idea took form in her head as she rushed ahead and arrived there first. Aki started to break a couple of walls and pillars, so it may crumble as she left. But before she could finish the job, Allen arrived and attempted to retrieve the Innocence once more.

With no other choice, Aki confronted him, surprising him with her sudden change of course. As Aki sliced her hand through the air, Allen jumped back lithely and activated his arm once more. Aki scowled as she stared at Allen intently, anticipating his next move, yet he seemingly didn't want to attack her as of yet. They stared at each other warily, until Allen spoke up once again.

"Please stop attacking. I'm not your enemy, I don't want to hurt you," He pleaded, a serious tone evident in his voice.

Aki said nothing as she attacked him again, aiming jabs at his head and stomach respectively before attempting a leg sweep. In turn, Allen evaded them proficiently and grabbed her arm with his Innocence hand. Though it didn't harm her, she hissed in protest of the unexpected move. Before Allen could speak again, she tore her arm out of his grip, trying to escape again and unknowingly dropping the Innocence

As the girl dashed swiftly out of sight, Allen could only stand there and watch. Once again losing the girl, he pouted, annoyed, at least until he spotted the green orb that the girl accidentally dropped on the ground. Allen decided not to give chase as he knelt down to pick up the Innocence.

"At least I've got the Innocence," He stated optimistically. Allen glanced down the path that the girl had just escaped to. "I wonder who she was? But she was an exorcist, no doubt." He turned on his heel and started walking out the way he came, but tripped over something and fell on his face again.

Sitting up, he brushed off the dirt on his coat, somewhat frustrated. "What was that? Felt like some sort of-" He started, but was cut off as he noticed the bodies on the floor. He wondered whether they were okay, and crawled over to inspect them more carefully.

Allen checked their vital signs worriedly, and then sighed in relief as he found that they were still alive and breathing. 3 of them were finders, judging from their uniforms, and there were 4 other men with them, whom Allen presumed to be miners. He calculated the math in his head and figured he was able to carry around 3 or 4 men at a time. Allen let out a sigh. He had to make 2 trips to the surface and back, but seeing as he had an ever-helpful personality, he obliged without complaint.

The first trip back was fast and uneventful, since he had a lot more energy. However, the second trip was not quite so. Halfway to the cavern, exhausted and panting, Allen felt a sense of uneasiness come over him. He glanced about warily and took in his surroundings. Nothing had changed, yet why was he feeling agitated? He shook his head to clear his mind, to assure himself that nothing was wrong. He couldn't be further from the truth.

Through all the caves' eeriness and broken echoes, Allen picked up a sound which seemed to silence them all. A subtle cracking sound could be heard, and thin lines began appearing on the surfaces of the walls and ceiling. They quickly spread to the floor and a rumbling sound could be heard, growing in volume every passing second.

"Too many supporting pillars have been broken," He said, scrutinising the cracks. "These mines are no longer stable!" He cried, the sudden realisation shocked him indefinitely.

Allen began sprinting, frantically now, to try to save the lives of those left in the cavern. With no seconds to spare, he picked up the remaining 3 people and dragged himself out as fast as he could, rocks falling and tunnels crumbling as he passed. His grip occasionally slacked and his feet pounded relentlessly on the ground, but he kept going, knowing that they will all die if he were to stop.

Allen made it through nonetheless, just before the mines' entrance collapsed. Allen sank to the floor, his lungs hurt from being over-used and his arms sore from carrying the weight of 3 full grown men. As he caught his breath and sighed in relief, he looked up, only to have his jaw drop open again. Kanda was sitting on a pile of rubble which was exactly where the refinery was, and Akuma corpses littered the perimeter. Allen pieced the scene together and tried to deduce what had happened: While he was busy chasing the girl and rescuing the finders, Kanda decided to go all out and _happened_ to destroy the refinery in the process. He couldn't believe it.

"Kanda! Have you no self-restraint?" Allen bellowed over at him, still horror struck at the sight presented before him, "How are we going to pay for this!" Allen added.

Kanda stood up and sheathed his sword, not bothering to look at Allen properly. "It's none of my business," he stated in a matter-of-factly way. "It was in my way, so I destroyed it," Kanda added, walking off nonchalantly.

Allen frowned at his sense of reason. Forget _happened_, he _intentionally_ destroyed it. Allen rummaged around in the pockets of his coat until he found what he was looking for. The orb called Innocence shone brightly in his hand. He held it up against the background of the yellow-grey dawn and examined it carefully. Although he wasn't new to the Innocence, he still wondered how such a small material be the cause of so many worldwide problems. He was snapped out of his musings by the sound of people stirring behind him.

The people he rescued were slowly coming to, and they all seemed to be fine. Allen found out that the reason the finders went missing, was because the Innocence had knocked them out by emitting a special gas that doesn't harm them directly, but merely makes them unconscious.

Allen rubbed the back of his head distractedly and closed his eyes. "Well, that means our mission is complete," He said, then he began looking around questioningly, "but I wonder where that girl has gotten to?" He shrugged to himself and then began making his way out of Truilz.

* * *

In a place not too far away from Truilz's mines, a patch of ground exploded, flinging its' muddy contents high into the air. A hand reached out from the underground and lifted an exhausted body onto the surface. Aki rolled over and lay on her back, breathing heavily.

"Damn! I... Lost... The Innocence!" She managed to yell in between breaths. She was irritated at how she lost the Innocence so easily.

The cool, damp grass soothed her overheated skin, and the calmness of the dawn set her mind at peace. As much as she would have loved to just lie there forever, she knew her wounds needed attending to. With a sigh, she rolled over once more and pushed herself into a standing position, staggering over to lean on a nearby tree. Aki took a fresh roll of bandages out of her jacket's topmost pocket, the only part that wasn't soaked through with blood. With shaking hands, she did a rough job of wrapping the soft material around her lower torso, concealing the wounds once more.

After doing the same to her injured shoulder, she tossed the roll aside and slid slowly down the trunk of the tree, bringing her knees close to her and hugging them tightly. Feeling lightheaded once more, her head dropped to rest on her knees, and breathed deeply to try and slow her frantic beating heart. When the pounding in her head ceased to a mere pulse, Aki straightened up painfully and awkwardly.

"This'll be my last raid then," She muttered, her vision starting to blur. "I've got to get going soon, but... Would he... Would he even..." The last of her sentence went unspoken as she lapsed into darkness. Her fatigued body could do no more as she fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Now what was she going to say? It was a little dry, this chapter, but I think it turned out okay. However, I hate the chapter title to this one, it's so boring! Again, I was in a hurry to write this chapter, so in some places, it may be a little sloppy in the grammar and spelling department. It's a bit late, but I give a big thank you to those of you who favourited this story, or added this story to your alerts list. However, after this chapter's update I've got school again, which is a shame since I won't be able to update as fast anymore. But don't turn away! I've started this story and I'm going to end it! It's not going on Hiatus, I promise you that! Just be patient until the next few updates and I'll love you all forever!**

**- Aki-Chan**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Grayman. I only own this story and Aki-Chan, thank you.**

**A/N: Chapter 6! Thank you to those of you who waited for this chapter, much appreciated! Just a bit of warning, Aki's language is a little less than decent in this chapter, so watch out! Now read and enjoy!**

**- Aki-Chan**

**Chapter 6: Arrival**

* * *

Aki struggled to climb up the side of the cliff-face. Even if she had her Innocence and all, it wasn't as easy as it looked. She was completely unhindered by natural inconveniences like the wind or weather, but the killer to her performance was – in fact – her injuries. The bothersome wounds were inflicted the day before by a level 2 Akuma and because of it; she was out of commission for almost a whole day afterwards.

Shaking her head to clear it, Aki once again looked up to assess the distance to the top. However, she couldn't see the top. In fact, she couldn't see anything! It was late in the night and pitch black for as far as the eye can see. Red rings embossed on her hands were the only indications of where her hands were, as she felt her way to the next handhold.

Stretching as far as she could, she found a ledge which seemed stable enough and hung off it. But unfortunately, it gave out under her weight, and she was left hanging by one hand on the cliff-face. The wind had also decided to pick up at that moment and she was beginning to shiver from the breeze. It just couldn't get any worse could it?

"Ah, crap," She exclaimed, hanging on the remaining ledge like a deranged climber. "Why'd the Order have to be built so freaking high on a freaking cliff?" She cursed again, not minding her foul language.

It wasn't exactly her fault for learning all the profanity. It had just been learned through exposure to it, and that is never a good thing. Not like she was taught not to swear anyway. Most of the time, Aki probably didn't even know what it meant, but she still used it anyway, because she was used to it.

Using her free hand she grabbed another ledge and swore unceremoniously as it broke off too. Aki wasn't aware of the tiny surveillance golems positioned around the cliff, watching her every move. Meanwhile inside the Order, the blond-haired section leader Reever muttered something about getting Komui to one of his subordinates.

"Now, now, what's this all about?" Komui asked in a singsong voice, sipping out of his bunny adorned coffee mug, eyes hidden by his thin glasses. He seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Some kid's climbing the cliff again," Reever said indicating the surveillance screen distractedly.

"That's rather silly of her," Komui stated, standing on his toes with fingers on the edge of his glasses. "Is it an exorcist?" He asked.

"We're not sure yet," Reever replied. "We'll just have to wait for the gatekeeper's examination, I guess," He added, watching the screens intently as the girl let loose another stream of profanity.

"What language..." an onlooking worker muttered none too quietly, and was greeted with murmured agreements.

Komui turned away from the screen to look at his assistant expectantly; in turn she smiled at him understandingly.

"Brother, shall I go out to meet her?" Lenalee asked, tilting her head ever so slightly, giving that 'oh-so-cute' look that everyone adored.

Komui nodded once and warmly smiled at her. She had offered to stay up and help him with his files, even though she would miss out on some of her sleep, and now she was offering to show around the new girl. Lenalee was really too kind for her own good in Komui's opinion.

"If she passes the examination, can you show her up to my office? You can leave after this little errand, okay?" he said.

"Okay!" Lenalee agreed as she left the documents she was sorting and rushed out the door.

"Ack!" Aki exclaimed, as she pulled herself up from the edge of the cliff. The steady rhythm of sweat dripping from her forehead made her all the more tired, and moonlight finally peeked out from behind the clouds, casting her elongated shadow along the ground.

She slammed her fist against the ground angrily, causing waves of pain to shoot up her already sore arms. "Why the _hell _is the moon coming out now? Just when I didn't need it," She growled, finishing off her statement by slamming her head against the ground.

She felt like an idiot, making herself more pained than before, but how else was she going to relieve her anger? Aki didn't want to kill anyone on her first day at the Order; that will draw unnecessary problems and attention to her person.

Dusting herself off as she stood, Aki began to make her way to the towering building that was the Black Order. The path was short, distractions were minimal, and so she soon came upon a large gate. She looked all around and examined the entrance, to which she seemed very small compared to its wide expanse.

It was comprised of two metal doors on either side of a huge face-like thing. The whole setting seemed a little peculiar to her, so she decided to come closer to investigate. As Aki approached the doors she felt eyes being focused on her person. She suddenly found herself under the watchful gaze of the stone face above her, which had unexpectedly come to life.

"Who goes there?" The face questioned Aki in its booming voice. "State your purpose!" He suddenly cried out, being unnecessarily loud.

Aki returned his gaze with a blank expression on her face. Then it turned slightly brash as she responded, a ghost of a smile dancing on her lips. "Hello ugly-face-thing, I wish to receive entry into the Black Order," she said, cocking her head to one side, as she awaited his reaction.

"Ug-ugly-face-th-? Ugly... What did you just call me?" he blurted furiously with eyes wide. His face was almost jumping right off the wall in anger.

Aki ignored his last outburst and continued on. "My name is Aki Chiyo and I wish to enlist as an Exorcist here," She said calmly.

All was silent for a moment until Aki heard a voice coming seemingly from out of nowhere. "An Exorcist you say, hmm? Gatekeeper! Do an examination scan first to see if she's human," The voice which was seemingly male said, directed to her first, then to the 'gatekeeper' as he called it.

Aki once again turned to look at the gatekeeper, who seemed to be biting his lip in annoyance. He still seemed rather upset about her name calling from before, yet obliged reluctantly.

"X-ray examination! Determining whether the subject is a human or Akuma!" He announced as beams of light shot from his eyes and appeared to search her thoroughly.

After a minute or two, the beams of light stopped their searching and the gatekeeper declared her status. "All clear! She is human!" He said.

Aki let a tiny satisfied smile creep onto her face as the gatekeeper shouted for the doors to be opened. As the entrance was lifted, rumbling as it went; she entered the premises and met a girl who seemed to be waiting for her. She seemed to be around 15-16 years old, and had her long black hair pulled up into two pigtails that bounced on her head.

"Hello," she greeted in a friendly way. "I'm Lenalee!" She introduced herself and held out her hand.

Aki made no move to take it, instead eyeing it warily. Seeing as Aki wasn't all too keen on trusting her, Lenalee pulled her hand back and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear awkwardly.

"Well... I guess I'll take you to see Komui then," She spoke up, getting lively all of a sudden.

Aki only responded with a curt nod as she followed the girl, Lenalee, up the Orders levels. She pointed out important areas as she went along, such as the dining hall, the lounge and the library, giving Aki a sort of mini tour around the headquarters. As they finally reached their destination, Head supervisor Komui's office, Lenalee bid her good night and left with a yawn.

Aki stumbled into the room and was slightly amused at the mess that was inside. She didn't notice the man sitting at the desk in the room, until he called her.

"So I see you're here," he said, smiling at her. "Please have a seat," he added, indicating the seat in the centre of the room.

Aki nodded once and made her way over to the couch, trampling a couple of documents on her way. The head supervisor leaned forward in his chair, and placed his chin on his interlaced fingers. Another man with blond hair stood behind him, holding a clipboard and giving Aki an apprehensive look.

"My name is Komui Lee, and I'm the head supervisor here at the Black Order Headquarters," the supervisor said. "Though you may have heard that from my sister, Lenalee?" He questioned Aki, in turn receiving an affirmation on his statement. He smiled as he continued. "Now, as I recall, your name was Aki Chiyo, correct?"

"Yes," she confirmed, speaking for the first time during their whole exchange.

"And am I to understand that you possess some sort of Innocence?" Komui continued with a slight frown visible upon his brow.

Aki nodded and showed him her gloves. "This is my Innocence." She flicked her wrist and it activated before him, coating her fingers like liquid metal.

The two others in the room leaned forward a little to get a closer look at the weapon. Its red rings glowed occasionally as she flexed her fingers, testing its limberness. Then Aki deactivated it just as suddenly and shoved them out of sight.

"Interesting..." Komui commented, seemingly lost in thought for a moment. "By the way..." His eyes flickered to meet Aki's, "What was your motive of coming here?"

"Ah, that..." Aki murmured, closing her eyes thoughtfully. "I'm looking for my brother," she said, crossing her arms and frowning slightly.

"Your brother?" Komui asked, tilting his head to one side to emphasise his confusion.

"Yes. It's highly probable that he is an exorcist too," Aki replied, unknowingly fidgeting with her Innocence.

"Hmm, so what's his name?" Komui inquired further.

His assistant scribbled something subtly onto the board he as holding and looked to the exchange with renewed interest.

"His name's Yuki Chiyo," Aki responded, turning her head away, an unreadable expression on her face. "Have you heard of him?" She added, her gaze shifting to rest on the man questioning her.

A hesitant silence filled the room as Aki awaited their response. Komui had an extremely thoughtful expression on his face, and the other man had stopped writing too. Both their reactions, Aki noted, were a little too abrupt.

Komui turned to the other man and began a whispered conversation between them, occasionally sneaking glances at Aki during the breaks in the exchange, causing her to narrow her eyes warily. Fidgeting distractedly on the couch she sat upon, Aki waited. Finally, the two stopped whispering to each other and Komui directed his attention to her once again.

"I'm sorry, but there are no files in our archives that say anything about a person with that name," He said, his face expression blank and composed.

Aki said nothing for a while. But in her thoughts, she began to second-guess herself. All she came to the order for was to look for her brother, yet he wasn't here either. Aki frowned slightly as she registered what she will do next, when she was pulled out of her thoughts by a persistent cough which seemingly came from Komui. She looked at him once more as he asked her if she wanted anything else. Aki shook her head gently.

"No," she replied, a smile almost appearing on her features, "That is all."

"I see..." Komui nodded thoughtfully and proceeded to explain the rules and occupation of an exorcist to Aki, with her nodding at each fact presented to her with attentiveness.

"... So report to my office tomorrow morning so that we can take you to Hevlaska to check your Innocence, understand?" Komui finished, watching her carefully to see if she understood.

Aki nodded once, all the while wondering who or what Hevlaska was. Komui smiled, apparently satisfied by her answer and went back to sorting out his paperwork.

"I'm sorry; I've kept you up late haven't I?" Komui stacked another pile, only to have it fall down again rather humorously. "Reever, can you show Aki where her room is?" Komui called to the man with the clipboard, Reever, and he gave Aki a map of the Order and explained where her room was.

With a nod and a murmured goodnight, Aki traced her way to her assigned room, through the exceedingly long hallways and eventually found it, much to her surprise. The door opened with a humble creak as she stepped into her room, examining it curiously.

It wasn't at all large, but had everything it needed. It had a plain, wooden bed to the right, which was positioned next to a night-stand. A bookshelf decorated the left wall, containing novels telling about history and other common literature. The walls and floor were not at all exciting, just made of uneven stone blocks which had grown a layer of dust in the time it had been unoccupied. Disturbing the floor's carpet of dust, Aki strode over to the large window adorning the other end of the room. It was a tall, arch shaped window and was cool to the touch. As she got closer to it, Aki could see her faint reflection for a brief moment before her breath fogged up the glass again, and it disappeared without a trace.

While the steam subtly melted away, revealing clear glass once again, Aki stared blankly into the dark expanse that was the night. She didn't know how long she stood there, only that her feet were glued to the floor and she had to pry them away painfully as she turned away from the window.

Stumbling over to the bed, she slumped down, Head still abuzz with unanswered questions. What should she do now? Should she stay at the Order? Should she leave and continue looking for her brother? What benefits could come from each decision? What disadvantages will come from each decision? Will she regret it later on?

She just didn't know anymore. To figure things out in the morning could be a decision, then again, maybe not. Whilst arguing again and again over some useless topic, sleep claimed her. Unexpected, but appreciated.

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**A/N: If you're shocked at Aki's foul mouth, don't tell me I didn't tell you so. Wow, I may have to start calling her Aki-Kun the way she's speaking. That's actually not a bad idea, then I can distinguish between my pen name and the character herself! Okay! I'm still annoyed at the title to this chapter, it's too typical in my opinion, but I couldn't think of anything else (Yeah, I'm that creative aren't I?). Hmm, this chapter was my longest yet, (minus the Authors Notes and disclaimers). Now be patient for the next chapter, okay? Also review please! (they're a big encouragement to me).**

**- Aki-Chan**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own D. Grayman. I only own this story and Aki-Kun, thank you.**

**A/N: Hmm, not too bad in my updating this time in my opinion. Considering school is already underway and all, you might have thought that I would have been slower, but _no_ (I snuck into writing this during my free study times! Shh!). Anyway, I put a lot of thought into this chapter's contents, so the grammar may have gone to the dogs... Enjoy it the best you can though!**

**- Aki-Chan  
**

**Chapter 7: Tenbatsu

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**

_Standing at the docks looking to the sea beyond, two figures stood talking, their silhouettes stark against the sunset sky. Their faces are hidden by hoods, and the way in which they spoke to each other seemed hurried, the air surrounding them, tense._

"_Aki, I'll find you when I get there."The older person appeared to say, his syllables echoing eerily._

"_You promise?" The voice of a young girl asked in a nervous tone. Aki recognised it as her own._

_There was a noticeable pause before he gave a seemingly hesitant answer. He appears to smile, yet Aki still could not see his face properly._

"_... I promise." His voice resonated, making the air tremble before fading away._

_Aki could hear the silence ringing in her ears. Who was that? She couldn't remember properly. A large gust of wind pushed her off balance as she fell to the ground, stumbling as she did so.  
_

Aki's eyes snapped open as the fragments of the dream came to her, in small pieces of memory. Her eyes were distant as she stared, boring holes in the opposite wall. Aki hasn't dreamt of the past in a very long time, and reliving her past experiences frightened her.

"That was what my brother said when he left me on the shores of home." Aki fiddled with the sheets beneath her, crumpling them into unrecognisable heaps.

She raised her head. It was still dark outside, as dawn had not broken yet. She slid off the bed and instinctively made her way to the door, slipping on her sandals as she went. Aki could not risk having a hazy mind, so she went for a walk. Through the hallways she went, she met not a soul, as it was in the unearthly hours of the morn.

She found herself climbing higher and higher, up thousands of flights of steps, and she soon found herself at the summit of the Order. The roof was hard to get to, but she managed it by activating her Innocence, grabbing the ledge of roof and flipping herself gaily onto the flat exterior.

The air was thin, but breathable, stale in the cold morning air. Aki suppressed a shiver as she sat on the stone roof surrounded by mist. She thought it'll be nice to see the dawn break from the roof, so she sat and waited.

Not too long after wards, a small white dot began to make its way, creeping up the darkened sky, lightening it with every passing minute. As her eyes followed the sun's journey, Aki's hair was caught in a rhythmic breeze as she sat calmly, legs and arms crossed.

The dawn's rays warmed her skin, basking it in the golden glow of daybreak. She sat there for who knows how long, and eventually realised that she had to move soon, lest the possibility of her limbs becoming stiff. She shrugged and stood up, walking forwards as she did so. Examining herself calmly, Aki grimaced as she found soot and flecks of dried blood, soiling her clothes and skin.

"I must look like a mess, perhaps I should-"she was suddenly cut off as her leg suddenly fell through the floor. Well, not really. She had misjudged the length of the roof and was currently falling at a dangerous speed down to earth, passing several windows as she did.

"Well this is inconvenient..." Aki sighed. She was hanging by both hands, Innocence activated, on a window ledge halfway down the Order.

As she was falling, she managed to stick out her hand and catch herself there. Unfortunately, this came with a cost. Aki's breathing hitched as she felt the skin around her wounds stretching and eventually splitting, leaking fresh blood onto her bandages.

"Crap..." Aki muttered to herself as she spat the nauseating, metallic taste out of her mouth. Hauling herself over the edge, she rolled onto the floor on the other side, panting none too quietly. Sitting up and rubbing the back of her head, she began stumbling down the hallways, clutching at the walls for support.

"Forget what I said before," Aki said with a scowl, "I must _really _look like a mess now."

Not wanting to show up at the supervisor's place looking like a murderer – even if it was her own blood – Aki decided to take a shower, bringing along a set of clothes she found in her room. Looking at herself in the mirror, Aki determined that she was at least presentable.

Her damp black hair hung in straight, limp tresses which stopped just before her knees, and the locks of her fringe fell over her forehead haphazardly. She wore a white top under a thin, black jacket and beige cargo pants. The clothes hung slightly loose over her frame, as she turned this way and that. She gave her reflection a curt nod and marched out of the bathrooms, satisfied. The clock ticking above read 6:30 as Aki strode by.

"6:30, hmm? I'll go to the supervisor's office at around seven." Aki decided this as she made her way back to her room.

Just as she said, Aki was present at exactly 7am at Komui's office, yet the bespectacled man was nowhere to be seen. Curiosity getting the better of her, Aki paced about the room and came to a halt at Komui's desk, piled high with documents of who-knows-what.

Picking out a random leaf sticking out from a mound of papers, probably past their checking date, Aki examined the contents innocently. On the yellowed covers of the folder, there were large black letters printed starkly against its background:

**MARIAN CROSS**

Her eyes narrowed as something jogged her memory. Where has she heard that name before? She flipped open the file and scanned the data it held, concentrating hard on the details. There wasn't any information regarding where he's been, or what he looks like. Nothing in the folio was of use to her. With a frustrated sigh, she slammed the folder onto the desk in front of her angrily, surprisingly not knocking over anything.

Hearing footsteps approach the door, Aki darted over to the couch and was able to make it there before the door opened, allowing a humming Komui to step in merrily. He glanced about the room and caught sight of Aki on the couch. She looked at Komui with a blank expression as he greeted her.

"Ah, Aki, so I trust you had a good snooze?" Komui asked energetically.

She nodded once, affirming his statement.

"Hmm... That's right!" Komui said with his finger in the air, as if he had suddenly remembered something. "We have yet to check your Innocence at Hevlaska's. Come with me, I'll show you the way," He said to Aki, stepping out the door and indicating her to follow him.

Aki reluctantly went after Komui, always lagging behind a step or two. Watching the back of the supervisor, Aki felt the urge to ask him about her Innocence checking.

"Who is Hevlaska?" Aki asked cautiously.

"Hevlaska is one of our exorcists," Komui replied turning his head to look at her, "she will be the one to check your Innocence."

Aki wondered how it is that an exorcist would be able to check her Innocence. Her question was answered soon enough.

"What the _hell_!" She cried as luminous, transparent tentacles snaked around her arms. She felt as if her insides were being explored by a foreign source, unknown to her. It did not feel good. Aki tried to jerk her hands away, but they were kept locked in place by more of those tentacles. She looked back at Komui questioningly, but he simply smiled at her, which made her all the more infuriated.

Komui readjusted his glasses as he spoke. "This is Hevlaska," Komui said gesturing at the being in front of Aki. Then turning to Hevlaska, he asked her, "how's the synchronisation rate?"

Aki gritted her teeth and turned back to Hevlaska, sending her a wary glare, yet Hevlaska seemed to be unperturbed at her reaction. Instead, Aki heard her muttering figures. Aki strained her ears in order to hear what she was calling out.

"_3%, 15%, 29%, 41%, 57%, 63%, 77%," _Hevlaska murmured, releasing Aki's Innocence from her grip. "_It appears that your synchronisation rate is at 77%._"

"Hmm? Strange... 77? It's a little low..." Komui was mumbling to himself, stroking his chin ponderously.

"_I sense you have other Innocence with you._"

Aki had been intending to turn around, but froze in her tracks as Hevlaska's statement rang true. Aki turned to look up at the ethereal being, her face not betraying her emotions of discontent. She then smiled, resigned, as she took out of her pockets, 3 glowing orbs of Innocence.

"That I do. This is what you're looking for, isn't it?" Aki held out her hands to Hevlaska, and was slightly surprised as they made their way up by themselves, to Hevlaska's keeping place for Innocence. Taking note that Komui was watching her carefully, Aki tried to ignore him the best she could.

Aki looked away for a moment, and then glanced up at Hevlaska again. "That's not all is it?" Aki asked, "I know there's more to my Innocence's capabilities."

"_Tenbastu..._" Hevlaska began to murmur.

Aki flinched in mild surprise at hearing the name of her Innocence.

"_...It is an Innocence that carries the 'Will of destruction'. Allowing yourself to be used is a dangerous decision. If you do not understand your Innocence, the possibility of calamity is inevitable._" She continued.

Aki had never heard such a cryptic statement before; just listening to it had left her more confused than ever before. What was the "Will of destruction" that Hevlaska had spoken of? It made her realise just how little she knew about Innocence overall, let alone her own. She was snapped out of her pondering by Komui's voice.

"So that's that!" He remarked, a faint grin on his face.

Aki turned to glare at him with added ferocity. "That's it? How am I supposed to walk away with that? I... I don't get it..." Aki said, seething with frustration and confusion.

Komui waved his arms hastily in the air. "That's not my fault! Hevlaska's prophecies are always puzzling, though for the most part, they are true," Komui stated, finger in the air again as if giving a lecture.

Aki's reply was a lengthened nod, as she said no more.

"We'll take our leave now." Komui nodded at Hevlaska and gave a respectful bow to the Great Generals.

As Aki did the same, Hevlaska made one final statement before fading into the darkness that surrounded them.

"_May god's divine protection be with you..._"

As Komui and Aki ascended using the elevator, she silently pondered about the current developments concerning her Innocence. As the elevator halted to a stop, Komui began explaining the history and functions of the Innocence, most of which Aki had already heard before, yet she still paid attention and nodded at the correct times.

Walking along the corridor, Komui finished his lecture and Aki was prepared to leave when suddenly...

"Wha!" Somebody had just skidded out from the side hallway in front of them. He appears to be puffed out from running.

"So you're here Komui? Was there a reason you called for m-." The white-haired boy stopped short of what he was saying, as his eyes widened at the sight of Aki.

"Ahhhhhhhhh! It's you!" He pointed a finger at Aki, screaming in utter shock and surprise.

Komui looked from Aki to Allen and back again with a semi-bemused face expression. "Oh? So you two know each other?" He asked, pointing to the two of them.

"Komui!" Allen cried, "this is-."

"Walker..." Aki muttered, frowning slightly, a slight flicker of recognition in her eyes.

Aki's sudden interruption drew confused, silent glances from the other two, in which the silence was broken by Komui.

"Allen, the reason I called you was to assist our newest exorcist," Komui said, clearing his throat.

"Exorcist?" Allen inquired, looking incredulously at Aki.

"This is Aki Chiyo. She arrived here yesterday. Do show her around and make her feel welcome." Komui was already walking away, leaving behind a clueless Allen with a troubling responsibility.

Watching Komui's retreating back as it disappeared around the corner, Allen sighed, slightly irate at this turn of events. Rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, as the tense silence refused to let up, he returned the not-so-lenient stare that his peer was giving him.

"So we meet again, Walker." Aki folded her arms and stared, emotionless, at the white-haired boy named Allen Walker. First, her Innocence gets some weird prophecy. Now she gets accompanied by Walker, of all people. Staying at the Order was going to be troublesome after all...

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**A/N: Ha! What did you think of that? If it sounds completely corny (the whole prophecy thing) then tell me! I love you all for reviewing (and responding to my encouragement call too!), and I hope you'll do the same to this chapter! Like i said, the grammar and such is a little dodgy (please don't stop reading just because of that), but I hope the content makes up for it. So yeah, you know a little about Aki-Kun's Innocence and you'll be sure to find out more later on. Like I said before, encouragement (or not) in your reviews is sure to boost my updating rate, So review! Please?  
**

**- Aki-Chan  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Grayman. I only own Aki-Kun and this story, thank you.**

**A/N: Hello all my lovely readers, I'm back! Yeah, I know it's been over 2 weeks that I've updated or whatever, but I'm trying my best! Yup. Not much happens in this chapter, but I made up for it by having a long chapter. Please excuse me for any spelling/gramatical etc. mistakes and I hope you guys enjoy it!**

**- Aki-Chan**

**Chapter 8: Getting to know Aki

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**

"What?"

Aki's cold voice shattered the silence as Allen kept staring at her. It was unnerving to say the least. Not being able to put up with it any longer, Aki turned her head sharply to glower.

Allen kept on staring at her, a slight pout now visible on his face. He had been cautious of Aki since she attacked him a couple of days before. He had numerous questions he had wanted to ask her, but seeing as she is now – introduced as a new ally and noticeably weary – Allen didn't see why his demands couldn't wait.

"You know, the way you talk... it's very... blunt," Allen said struggling to think of a way to speak his thoughts nicely. However, its effects were not as he thought they would be.

"So what? The way I talk is of no concern to you." Aki said frostily as she quickened her walking pace to be one step ahead of him.

"Cold..." Allen muttered to himself and hastening his pace to catch up with Aki. "So... Aki, was it?" Allen inquired cautiously.

She said nothing.

Making an effort to make pleasant conversation, Allen tried once more, an innocent smile on his face this time. "Many of us here come from different places. I'm one of the locals though... So, where're you from?"

After frowning at him confusedly, she gazed off into the distance and replied with a straightforward tone. "The east."

"East, huh? Sometimes I hear it's nice down there," Allen mused aloud.

"Nice, huh?" Aki stopped abruptly. She smiled bitterly, as she thought back to the time when she was in her homeland. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either.

Thinking back, she could almost taste it; taste the floral-scented air mixed in with a bittersweet combination of that thick, metallic substance. Having that substance strewn across your dwelling, plastered over loved ones as they gazed with unseeing eyes. Yet that same substance was the one that coated your fingers, covered your enemies, and marked you victorious. Opening her eyes she didn't know she had closed, and clenching her fists until her palms rubbed raw, Aki glared at Allen, her expression remaining blank but her eyes alight with anger.

Biting her lip subtly, Aki forced words out of her mouth, trying to sound as calm as possible. "Walker, I'd prefer it if you don't mention where I'm from. It's a touchy subject that."

Slightly taken aback by Aki's unexpected response, Allen changed the subject once more. "Walker, huh?" He shook his head. "Why do you keep calling me Walker? You can just call me Allen. I'd prefer it that way."

"It's not the matter of your liking it or not, but it's the fact that I'm not here to make friends," Aki said, words fluid as she calmed down. "Walker," she added to emphasise her point. At this stage, she had turned away, subtly refusing to look at Allen straight in the eye.

Allen watched her carefully as she said that, noting her tone of voice. She sounded a little... distressed? Maybe a bit bothered too. The reasons for this were a mystery to Allen, and it made him all the more curious if he left her alone. Allen could see the opportunity of making a new friend, which he would be very pleased about; but it isn't as easy as it seems, the way she was acting wouldn't get him far. Then a thought crossed his mind. Maybe it would help Aki become friendlier if she had breakfast? Licking his lips hungrily, he suggested the idea to Aki.

"I'm starving, what about you?" Allen stepped in front of her, halting her walking and waved his arms about to emphasise his point.

Aki continued to stare at him silently. She didn't want him to know she was hungry, because it would give him an excuse to pester her with his questions. However, her stomach soon gave her away. A low rumbling could faintly be heard, and then it rose to a loud growl, snarling like a beast. Aki frowned at this and her face grew red with embarrassment and annoyance.

"Great!" Allen clapped his hands together. "The dining hall is this way, come on!" He ambled off, a wide smile on his face.

Aki hadn't any other choice, so she followed after him.

The dining hall was huge. Aki never got a decent look at it on her tour with Lenalee the day before, but now that she has, she saw it could hold nearly all the Order members and still have room to spare. Allen ushered her over to the line of people lining up for their breakfast and queued patiently. While the line shortened, Aki noticed Allen giving her a most peculiar look. She whirled around to glare questioningly at the boy, only to have him smile innocently in reply. However, she did not buy it.

"What?" she muttered, cocking her head ever so slightly.

"Hmm? Nothing! Nothing!" Allen waved his arms about with an awkward smile.

Aki decided to play along for a bit and turned back to the front, folding her arms as she did. She then noticed a hand hovering above her head, and then discreetly traced it back to its source, which appeared to be Allen... measuring his own height compared to hers? But whatever it was, it made him start grinning triumphantly.

"What?" Aki inquired, shocking Allen who finally noticed Aki was watching him the whole time.

He rubbed the back of his head timidly, and gave Aki one of those innocent smiles she had grown to hate in her short time at the Order. "Well... uh... you seem kind of, uh... short." He finished nervously, struggling to find the right words to say.

"... I figured." Aki said, her voice struggling to hide its venomous demeanour, as she turned stiffly to face the front, refusing to look at Allen once again.

As Aki found herself finally at the front of the line, she was mildly surprised by the person behind the counter, poking his head out all of a sudden to get a better look at her. When he mentioned her lack of height, Aki had barely contained her frustration, but she moved on to order her breakfast, which came almost instantly.

Carrying it back to an empty table she stared distractedly at the toast and hot chocolate she had ordered. Yes, she liked hot chocolate. Aki had come across it one time on her travels and had loved it ever since; though it was a rare luxury. Hearing a thump in front of her, Aki looks up, mildly surprised to see stacks upon stacks of plates piled precariously, one on top of another. She looked around the side and briefly glimpsed Allen stuffing his face, before shoving away his current plate and starting on a new one.

Aki folded her arms tentatively and looked up at the pile with barely disguised disgust. "Must you eat so much?" She asked, her eyes tracing the steadily growing pile of empty plates.

"Hm? Yeah," Allen replied briskly through mouthfuls.

"So you must be a parasite type, yes?" Aki asked.

"Uh, yeah." Allen slurped a spaghetti strand into his mouth. "How did you know?"

"My... _brother_ has similar eating habits as you." She responded hesitantly, slightly stressing the word "brother" as she did.

"Your brother's an exorcist?" Allen stopped for a moment to stare at her again.

"Yeah..." Aki fiddled with her toast, distracted once more.

"That's grand." Allen stated, before digging into another plate.

Taking a sip out of her hot chocolate, Aki stared at it, mildly surprised and blinked a couple of times. Allen noticed her unusual face expression and glanced at her questioningly.

"It's... good." She took a longer draught and sighed contentedly

"Sure is. Jerry makes the best stuff." Allen turned back to munch on some vegetables.

Another sound of a chair being pulled back reached Aki's ears and she looked up into the smiling face of Lenalee. She sat down next to Allen and gave a small wave over the table at Aki.

"Hi! Do you remember me from yesterday?" She chirped cheerily.

Aki gave a brief nod in her direction to acknowledge her presence, and then continued to munch quietly on her toast in front of her. Lenalee gave an incredulous look to Allen and only had him shrug in reply.

"This is Aki Chiyo. She's our newest exorcist, Lenalee." Allen gestured to Aki. Leaning closer to whisper in her ear, Allen spoke. "She may act all cold and such, but I know she can be friendly. But I may need your help for that to happen."

Lenalee pulled away and looked at him, slightly puzzled.

"Komui said I have to take care of her," Allen whispered in her ear once more, receiving an understanding nod on her behalf. Allen then turned to look at Aki once again, with Lenalee following suit.

Aki felt eyes on her person as she looked up at Allen and Lenalee. "Lee." She glanced at Lenalee. "Walker." Her gaze shifted to Allen. "What do you two want?" She sat up straight, folded her arms and gave them a guarded expression.

"We want to know a little more about you," Lenalee started, she looked at Allen and he gave her a nod to continue. "You know, we could be friends," she finished.

"I'm not here to make friends." Aki poked the remains of her toast tentatively, and then looked hard at Allen. "Walker, I believe I've told you this before." Her eyes looked over to rest on Lenalee, yet she was still addressing them both. "But I'll answer questions if I'm able to."

"Uh..." Allen and Lenalee looked at each other, currently lost for words.

Allen took the first idea that popped into his head. "You mentioned your brother was an exorcist, right? Well, does he work here?"

"_Brother_..." Aki started, seemingly forcing the words out of her mouth, "...isn't here. He's an exorcist, but he isn't here..." She seemed distracted, as she glared into a crack in the wood of the table.

Aki appeared to not want to say any more about that topic, so Lenalee hurriedly changed the topic.

"So how old are you anyway?"

"Hm?" Aki placed a finger to her lips and began to ponder. "I'm currently 16."

"Ah, so you're older than me; I'm 15," Allen jabbered, clearly overenthusiastic about something.

"But... you look kind of short for your age," Lenalee scrutinised Aki lightly, not seeing the offence Aki took at her comment until Allen motioned for her to stop.

With his hand still sticking out, Allen turned and smiled apologetically at Aki before questioning her further. "You say you're from the east, Aki? But then how did you find out about the Order?" He asked.

"Well in my time there which was not too long ago, I met someone who directed me here." Aki stared hard into the dregs of her hot chocolate.

"Do you remember who it was?" Allen inquired, leaning onto the table, apparently interested.

"Hmm, now that I think about it... He mentioned his name in passing..." Aki frowned as she tried to remember. Then it suddenly hit her. The folder from before, it could have been... "Some shithead named Cross."

Everyone froze and Allen turned ghostly pale, as the blood drained from his face in an instant; though they didn't seem to go silent because of her appalling language.

Aki raised one eyebrow sceptically. "That name mean anything to you?"

Lenalee started. "He is..."

"...my master..." Allen muttered to himself, seemingly shuddering.

"... and also one of our generals." Lenalee finished.

"That guy?" Aki's expression was doubtful.

"Yes." Lenalee nodded, affirming the statement, yet she didn't appear all too pleased about it.

"Doesn't seem like it. That guy didn't even give any bloody directions; in fact, he didn't give a damn about how or when I got here." Aki said, her voice laden with spite. She didn't notice her hands were closing tighter and tighter around her plate, until it cracked in her hands.

Nobody said anything for a while, until Aki scooped up the remains of her plate and strode off silently. Allen and Lenalee watched her leave, and then turned to each other with slightly vexed expressions.

"What am I supposed to do now? She's even more distant than before." Allen whispered, glancing over occasionally at the distant Aki.

"There's not much I can do Allen, sorry," Lenalee just sighed and shrugged, and then left to return her own plates after waving goodbye to Allen.

"I wonder why master didn't take her here himself? He was probably slacking in his responsibility as a general again..." Allen shook his head. Gathering up the remains of his breakfast, Allen packed them away and glanced around for Aki. He sighed as he noticed; he had lost her, again.

Striding down the hallways, fuming for absolutely no reason, Aki took long steps to cover as much distance as possible. Why was she angry? Aki couldn't describe how it was that that simple answer; that simple piece of knowledge that Cross had _that_ much influence made her infuriated. Biting her lip once more as she suddenly stopped, Aki was suddenly aware that she had no idea where she was going. She must have looked most peculiar, zoning out in the middle of a corridor. The sound of pattering feet behind her made Aki whirl around suddenly, only to face a panting Allen. She straightened up and calmed herself, watching him silently as he caught his breath.

"Aki, could you not just wander off like that? Please?" Allen looked up at her smiling, hands still on his knees. He straightened up and sighed tiredly. "I remember you still need to have a uniform made right? I'll take you down to the science department. Jonny will be able to help you with that."

Aki nodded slowly. Then she followed Allen further until they reached a room marked "Science Department". It was filled with many scientists in their white lab coats bustling about, carrying papers and working weird machinery that Aki knew nothing about.

Allen approached a blond-haired man that Aki knew was Reever, standing near the back of the room, arguing with another scientist. He dismissed his subordinate and smiled at Allen when he saw him approach, yet his smile faltered when he caught sight of Aki behind him.

"Hello, Reever." Allen greeted warmly.

Reever nodded in reply. "Hello Allen, Are you looking for something?"

"Yeah." Allen indicated Aki behind him. "We're looking for Johnny to make a uniform for Aki."

"He's down there with Tapp and the others." Reever pointed to his right. Then he turned to another scientist as he frowned at the paper that the other thrust in front of him.

Allen called thanks to the section leader and dashed off, dodging around workers as he went. Aki and Allen eventually reached a long table, where a small group of people were working on something Aki couldn't see from where she was standing. Allen approached them and waved a hello to them. And he got a tired response in return.

"What are you all working on?" Allen asked pleasantly, peering over their heads to try to see what they were doing.

"We're working on this new robot." A large man wearing a beanie said, pointing a chubby finger at the small mobile figure on the table.

"What's it supposed to be?" Allen asked again.

Another man with large glasses answered this time. "It's supposed to be a robot that fixes golems, but—." He turned to the small robot as crackling sounds began to emanate from it before appearing to break down and smoke. "... It's still a prototype."

"Now," The bespectacled man started, turning to the two standing before him, "How can I help you."

"We need a uniform made for Aki, our newest exorcist. Can you handle that Johnny?" Allen said tilting his head to one side in an inquiring manner.

"Of course!" The man named Johnny said. He left the room for a moment, and then came back with something big and black in his hands. It was a uniform very much like the one Allen was wearing. He held it out to a curious Aki. "Try this one on first."

Aki reluctantly took it and swung it onto her shoulders. She stood for a second or two, and then suddenly keeled over. Allen and Johnny knelt down to inspect the black heap worriedly, until Aki crawled out from under the coat and brushed herself off. She looked upset and a little bit embarrassed. Aki folded her arms and glared at Johnny.

"What the _hell _was _up_ with the _weight_ of that _thing_? It was so damned _big_ and _heavy_!" Aki accused her gaze rapidly shifting from Johnny to Allen in quick succession.

Johnny gave her a sheepish look. "Well, it does have an awful lot of materials that make it up, and you really are quite small."

Aki huffed and folded her arms even tighter, her hands balling up into fists. She turned around and started walking away. Then she suddenly stopped, activated her Innocence and abruptly punched the bookcase to her right, for no apparent reason. The sound of snapping wood rung throughout the science department as the bookcase collapsed. It would have severely injured someone, had Allen not stopped the falling of the bookcase with his activated left hand.

As he sat the half-broken bookcase on the wall and deactivated his Innocence, Allen glanced worriedly at the retreating figure of Aki slamming the door on her way out.

"This'll be harder than I thought..." Allen muttered to himself as he sighed. Aki was definitely hard to make friends with.

* * *

**A/N: So what about that? Cross was the one who directed Aki to the Order, and not very informative if I may add. By the way, Aki's comments in my story have nothing to do with my own opinions at all (in one way or another). Right. A longer chapter this time since I was away for so long, with information about Aki, so now you know how she responds to Allen and Lenalee; but they're the tolerable ones! Just wait till she meets up with the other two, Lavi and... Yes, Kanda, that'll be interesting to watch, but that won't be far from now; in the next few chapters... maybe... So yes, just review and I'll see what I can do.**

**- Aki-Chan**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Grayman. I only own this story and Aki-Kun.**

**A/N: Chapter 9! ... I'm back from the dead! Fear me!... No actually, the story updating thing wasn't fixed until now, so hooray! I've put a rough sketch of Aki as my profile picture. Took me ages to get it done. Anyway, I didn't exactly think this chapter through enough, so if you see any wide gaping holes in the story, please do tell me. I'll take it to heart and try to respond to your queries as best I can. So now just read and enjoy.**

**- Aki-Chan**

**Chapter 9: ... And things get worse.  
**

* * *

Flexing her arms once again, Aki watched, mildly impressed as the black material of her new uniform stretched flawlessly, leaving no crinkles as it contracted back into place. After a short argument between her and Allen about the importance of having a uniform in the job of an exorcist, Aki grudgingly agreed to have her measurements taken, so now she was in the science department examining it thoroughly.

Her uniform consisted of a jacket and shorts, with complementary boots to finish. The jacket had a plain design which didn't have much of a collar. The familiar Rose Crest was adorned on the left side, and the sleeves had the same simple design, only with 2 extra buckle straps on each arm. The shorts were mid-thigh length and were a plain, black, denim material, in which a striped belt was looped through. The late afternoon sun shining through the low window cast her in a warm golden glow, making the uniform look all the more radiant.

Pinching the material once more, Aki glanced to the side at the anxious-looking Johnny who had made it for her the day before, and was now awaiting her opinion. Aki pulled the jacket closer around her small frame until it fitted snugly.

"It's good," Aki said, her blank expression giving nothing away.

Johnny heaved a sigh of relief, and then he rubbed his hands together in expectation. "I do my best. I've made it lighter this time, but its durability wouldn't be as good," He explained joyfully, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Is there anything else you would want improvements on?"

"No..." Aki shook her head subtly. "Thanks..." She uttered quietly after a short pause, looking away as she did. "I'll take my leave now," Aki uttered, making her way out the door without another word, her hair trailing behind her as she disappeared around the corner.

Standing in the supervisor's office, his feet growing number by the minute, Allen waited patiently for Komui to stop pacing. The supervisor's constant movement made him edgy, and he found that he could wait no longer. Allen cleared his throat with a subtle cough, making Komui turn to him sharply with a mildly surprised look on his face. It softened into a cheery smile as he realised it was Allen

"So you're here Allen, I didn't see you there. Sit down." Komui said, finally settling down at his desk.

Seating himself on the couch, frowning from the supervisor's comment and stiff from standing for so long, Allen wondered why Komui had called him. He didn't have to wait long to find out. Komui stared at Allen directly and asked him the most simplest of questions.

"So, how's Aki?"

Allen blinked hesitantly and answered. "I'm not quite sure..." He started, straightening up in his seat. "She still seems a little wary though." Allen turned away, seemingly distracted.

Komui said nothing, but nodded thoughtfully with a 'hmm'; It made Allen wonder. Surely Komui is busy with other things instead of taking care of the new exorcists. Even if this was Komui he was talking about – the work shirker – it all seemed rather peculiar. Allen turned sharply to face the supervisor, clearly confused.

"Is there something wrong?" Allen asked cautiously. "It is rather unlike you to be worrying about this kind of thing," Allen added, a dark but inquisitive tone creeping into his voice.

Komui pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Worried? I'm not worried," Komui said hesitantly, but upon seeing Allen's sceptical face expression, he sighed.

"It's not really that important," Komui said in a resigned tone. "You needn't know about it..." He said, trailing off.

Allen, knowing that Komui won't say any more, asked a question of his own. "Komui, I think Aki took the Innocence on those previous missions, have you checked that out? And are you sure we can trust her?"

Komui shook his head. "I haven't looked into it, but Hevlaska's got the Innocence, and yes, I know she can be trusted."

"But she attacked me–." Allen pondered aloud, his face growing serious

"Probably in self defence."

"She might be dangerous! Not just to me, but everyone!" Allen suddenly realised he was on his feet, barely restraining himself from yelling his arguments at Komui. Slightly embarrassed, he slumped back onto the couch, clearing his throat as he did so.

"I have yet to figure that out," Komui said calmly, seemingly unaffected by Allen's outburst just moments before. "Like I said, she'll be fine. You'll have to trust me on this one," Komui said, standing up from his desk and beginning once again to pace about the room. "So, what do you know about her?"

Allen's eyes followed his movement apprehensively as he answered. "In the past few days, she wouldn't tell me anything about herself. What should I do? Can't you help me?"

"That, I recall..." Komui stopped to send a sidelong glance at Allen, smiling intuitively. "Was your job."

The sound of a door opening was heard, and the two turned around to look at the person who had interrupted in their conversation. It was Aki. She strode over to the couch in the centre of the room and sat down, placing herself as far away from the white-haired exorcist as she could.

"You called, supervisor?" she asked casually, folding her arms as she did so.

Komui nodded at Aki, and then turned to Allen. "The real reason I've called you both here is because I've got a mission for you." He took out of his desk two sets of files and passed one to each of the seated exorcists.

"Wait a minute..." Allen said as he realised something. "Are you sure sending Aki on a mission so soon is a good idea? I mean, she may get injured or worse..." He watched Aki out of the corner of his eye and caught her sending him a sharp glare.

"I have confidence in her abilities, and I'm sure you do too. The way you described her attack on the Akumas the other day proves it." Komui said.

Allen turned away, pouting slightly. Aki took this chance to ask a question.

"When are we leaving?"

"As soon as you're ready, so get packing." Komui answered, dismissing them with a wave of his hand.

As they were exiting the office, Komui called in a mocking-like way.

"Oh _Allen_?"

Allen froze in his tracks and repressed a shudder, as he looked over his shoulder at the overenthusiastic chief.

"While she under your watch, Aki is not to come to any harm, or there will be _dire _consequences." Komui said cheerily as if discussing the weather, though he put a bit of stress on the word 'dire'.

Allen, clearly freaked out, squeaked out a barely audible 'okay...' before turning to close the door behind him. He sighed heavily as he leant on the door, scratching his head as he wondered what that was all about, and if there were any ulterior motives that the supervisor had in mind. Allen shrugged. Not worrying about it since it was nothing out of the ordinary; Allen made his way to his room to pack his stuff, humming a merry tune as he did.

Aki stood aimlessly, staring at the large doors in front of her. Now she was sure she'd seen this place before. If she ends up back in the dining hall again, she will definitely die of embarrassment. Aki ended up walking into the same place at least 2 times while exploring the order, both times she had people sending her strange looks as she retraced her steps and started again. All the Order's corridors looked the same, so technically it wasn't her fault. Taking a deep breath and glancing about to see if anyone was watching, Aki pushed the doors open and stepped inside. She was mildly surprised to find herself not in the dining hall, but what she remembered to be the training room. Curious, she strode through the long extent of the room, her footsteps making slight echoes that bounced off the marbled walls as she examined it thoroughly for the first time.

The room was dark. The light peeking through the slim opening of the door was the only illumination available, but it was enough to make out the shapes of the occasional pillar. Stopping midway into the room, Aki could see no more reason to continue on. There was seemingly nobody there and the cold air was biting at her skin, so she turned around, prepared to leave. However, she froze as the sound of unsheathing metal reached her ears. With a flick of her wrist, she activated her Innocence, allowing it to encircle her arms, and then took a defensive stance. Aki's eyes darted every so often around the room, searching the shadows for the presence that was watching her. Just as she was about to let down her guard, Aki heard swift movement coming towards her direction. She turned sharply and raised her arm for defence against whatever was striking her. The sounds of metal clashing were heard as Aki was pushed back further into the darker depths of the room. She felt that the person attacking her was annoyed, and severely pissed; but for what reason, she didn't know.

As soon as there was an opening in their string of attacks, Aki fought back, striking high blows and forcing her attacker into the light of the doorway. His silhouette stood stark against the light, as his tall form overshadowed hers completely. Aki could make out that the person had long, black hair, pulled up into a ponytail. He was in possession of a black sword in which he was attacking her with, as well as an icy glare which was aimed in her direction.

He rushed forward and clashed with Aki again before reaching a stalemate, with both sides pushing with equal strengths.

"Who the hell are you," they both demanded simultaneously.

The attacker let out what sounded like a 'che' as he scowled at Aki's mildly perplexed expression. They both jumped back, watching the other cautiously whilst keeping their distance. Then suddenly and without warning, they rushed at each other again, clashing viciously. It just so happened that at that moment, someone walked in on their fight, and he wasn't all too happy about it.

"What are you two doing!" Allen screamed, dropping the suitcase he was holding, sending it clattering loudly on the marble floor. His eyes were wide as he took in the situation, horrified.

Only the attacker seemed to notice the white-haired exorcist standing in the doorway. "Fighting off an intruder, what does it look like?" He spat, not taking his eyes off the fight, and continuing to slash at Aki mercilessly. "Stay out of this Baka Moyashi, this one's mine."

"Baka Moyashi?" Aki smirked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. "You certainly have a colourful use of language."

"Shut up and fight, this is getting annoying!" He yelled, getting angrier by the minute.

The attacker slashed at Aki's midsection, missing her completely but then following up with a hard kick which sent her sprawling to the ground. Aki was clearly losing, but she persisted anyway. She rolled to the side as he made a stab at her throat, evading him completely and then dashed forward once again, only to be stopped by something large and clawed slamming her to the ground. It was Allen's Innocence. Hissing indignantly, Aki turned her head to face him, looking ready to rip his throat out and asked why he had stopped her. Allen shook his head hurriedly and was about to say something when he felt something sharp being pressed to the back of his neck.

"What is the meaning of this? Step aside baka moyashi and let me finish her myself."

Allen shook his head again. "Kanda, just listen will you?" Allen then looked at Aki, seemingly addressing her this time. "Aki you listen too. Kanda is one of the exorcists, an ally. And Kanda?" Allen looked over his shoulder. "Aki is one of our new exorcists, and no, it does not mean that you can go and attack her whenever you like just because she's new."

"And what makes you think I'll do what you say? She disturbed me during my training and that alone has a price to pay." The one named 'Kanda' said. Though he said this, Aki noticed he lowered his blade a little.

"Unless you want to take it up with Komui, I suggest you let us leave." Allen replied coldly, releasing Aki and standing up to face the dark-haired exorcist.

"Che," Kanda exclaimed as he turned away.

Aki picked herself up and deactivated her Innocence. After checking for injuries and found there were none that were significant, she headed for the door quietly, only to be stopped by a sword being raised and placed at her throat. Aki sighed and glanced over to the side where the sword wielding exorcist was scowling at her. Turning her head subtly to look at him, Aki returned his glare with one of her own.

"What?"

Kanda paused before answering. "Let me make this perfectly clear," he started without removing his blade. "Although you're an exorcist, this doesn't change anything between us. I'm not one of your friends, so don't expect me to come and help you if you get into any trouble." He smirked, moving around to the front of her, all the while keeping his sword in position. "Unless you want to die, then stay out of my way." He lowered his sword then re-sheathed it again, walking back into the depths of the room.

"Hm," Aki scoffed, and then as Kanda was passing her, she muttered stonily. "Same to you." She then exited the room, both sets of footsteps echoing as they left the scene.

"Have you packed yet?" Allen asked Aki, scooping up his suitcase off the floor as he ran to catch up with her.

Aki replied monotonously. "Haven't really seen a need to, since I've got nothing to bring."

"Hmm." Allen nodded. "We're going then."

* * *

**A/N: Yay! Kanda appears (tell me if he's OOC... or anyone for that matter)! Unfortunately, you won't be seeing him again for the next few chapters because of Aki's mission, yeah? And that also applies to Lavi too (so sorry Lavi fans!). I'm strongly considering changing the update rate of this story to be bi-weekly. Yeah, school's that busy. If I do, I'll be sure to tell all you guys in my author's notes. Now _please_ review! Tell me how the story's turning out (much appreciated if you did). Also, very sorry to the people who were waiting forever for this to come out, please accept my apology! I'll be writing more soon, I promise you (unless the story update thing stuff up again) so hey! Wait for it please? :D  
**

**- Aki-Chan**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Grayman. I only own Aki-Kun and this story.**

**A/N: Chapter 10! Wow, this story's going better than I thought it would, and it's all thanks to you lovely readers. The views and story alerts rose since the last chapter (Teehee! Kanda is loved!), but don't worry. After a little bit of storyline and missions you'll be seeing more of him, I promise you!... Also, sorry for disappearing for over a month without uploading anything. Truly sorry! My writing style probably has slacked since my last chapter, so please bear with me until I get it up and running normally again. This chapter is part 1 of Aki-kun's mission with Allen. Also, thanks to those who kept this on their story alert list (thank you my loyal readers), much appreciated and I hope you keep reading, but for now, enjoy!**

**-Aki-Chan  
**

**Chapter 10: Uncertainty.**

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It wasn't impossible, but it was unbelievable. Even though he knew this, the question must be asked... What exactly was going on? As the strikes kept coming, Allen could only watch in bewilderment. He had to say something, his arm was about to give out at any minute. Flinching again to the clanging sound that his arm made when struck, Allen faced the offender, resolve clearly shown within his eyes.

"What are you doing? Stop it!" He screamed, but his cry fell upon deaf ears. "It's me Allen, your friend! Can't you hear me? Stop it! Aki!"

His comrade threw punches at him relentlessly, her eyes void of any emotion. What was he supposed to do? Although Aki was impassive and such, this didn't seem to be the kind of thing she would do. Allen gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes in determination. Skipping back to gain some distance between them, Allen mused over what had happened in his mission up until this point...

* * *

The subtle sound of someone leaving their seats, and a door loudly slamming shut reached his ears. He knew she had left again. Allen fidgeted in his seat, folding and unfolding his arms nervously. He sighed. It was once again quiet in the train compartment. Throughout the trip, Aki had gotten up to leave two times already, the latest being her third. It was just a little bit frustrating, and each time she did take leave, she appeared to be fuming about something Allen could only guess at. The silence was cold and uncomfortable, and Allen needed to find some way to alleviate the boredom that managed to creep into his mind. Honestly, he had nothing to do; having read over the mission documents already.

Curiosity eventually got the better of him, and he decided to venture out to look for her, pulling his hood over head as he did. Opening the door to the next carriage, a public cart, all voices and conversation stopped. Allen felt uncomfortable as he tried to cross the carriage naturally, while all eyes were on him and a wave of murmuring swept through the mass of people. Some were gazing at him in reverence, others were downright hostile.

"Who is that? He looks important."

"Don't you know? He's one of them black priests."

"Huh? At such a young age?"

"I hear they go about slaying monsters."

"How scary. Are they even human?"

This reaction wasn't new to him. Allen had encountered these kinds of remarks before, so he had decided not to draw too much attention to himself. Not making eye contact or stopping, Allen advanced through the carriage without delay. Though halfway through, he felt something tugging on his sleeve. Turning back, Allen saw a little girl who had the end of his sleeve tightly rolled around her little chubby fists. She looked no more than five, an age where discriminant behaviour still hadn't taken root. With a small smile, Allen bent down to talk to her.

"Yes? was there something you wanted?"

"If you're looking for a lady with long, long hair, you can find her down at the end of the train." The girl jabbered in a high-pitched voice, "She wears the same as you an-"

The girl was suddenly snatched up by her mother sitting next to her. She cradled her daughter tightly and stared, seemingly terrified at Allen, the color quickly draining from her face. "I-I am so sorry for bothering you Mr. priest. P-Please accept my apology." She stuttered, giving him a low bow as she did.

Allen sighed, his smile from before turned into an expression that quietly empathised with her. "No, it's okay. Thank you for your trouble." Leaving the carriage in a hurry, Allen left the people to talk amongst themselves about what had just happened.

Aki was at the very end of the train, leaning on the rails and staring down at the tracks swiftly flying by below her. She sighed. She hadn't exactly been comfortable with staying in such a confined space for so long.

"I guess I've been living outside for so long now, that I'm not used to that kind of thing." She whispered to herself, pondering.

The Black Order... It seemed like a nice enough place, though there were things that bothered her. The vibe that they give off, those in the Order, it's... strange. Unlike any she'd felt before. They seemed like any other organisation, but something was off about them, though Aki wasn't able to place it, much to her frustration. Another thing that's been bothering her was that Allen boy. For some reason, he didn't seem to be honest as such. Especially the face that he shows to everyone he meets. That smile. It seems warm, but not entirely real. It is most likely a facade, but what is he hiding? Either way, it was irritating, but it peaked her curiosity even more. How can he remain so bright in the midst of a war? There were too many unanswered questions. Aki sighed once again, frowning.

"No wonder I can't stand to be in the same room as him."

After another two cars, Allen finally spotted Aki down the furthest end of the train. As he opened to door to the back, a wild gust of wind blew into his face, and the smell of the overhead smoke was faintly detectable in the otherwise fresh air. Leaning on the rails almost lazily, was Aki. She spared no more than a glance for the new arrival before continuing her distant stare at the scenery, swiftly flying by. Allen cautiously approached Aki and leaned on the rails beside her, he too beginning to stare at the scenery.

"So..." He began awkwardly. "You've been out here the entire time?" Allen asked. A halfhearted 'hm' was all he received in reply.

After a short pause Aki continued. "I hate being stuck inside. It's suffocating." She looked away, and then turned back to Allen. "You know what?"

"What?" Allen asked, curious.

"You're boring."

"Huah?" Allen exclaimed loudly, completely losing his composure.

"You don't really have anything of interest to talk about." Aki elaborated, turning her head away from him to catch more of the oncoming breeze.

"I thought you didn't want to talk to me." Allen inquired, now more confused than ever.

"I don't talk to boring people." She stated nonchalantly.

"Now you're just contradicting yourself..." Allen muttered to himself, letting out a resigned sigh.

After a couple of minutes had passed, Aki started again.

"Could... Could you tell me what our mission was? I can't remember and I left the dossier back in the compartment..." Aki mumbled admittedly, slightly embarrassed.

"No Problem!" Allen perked up and smiled at her cheerfully, apparently glad he could help. "Our mission was to investigate, remember? The town up ahead had some strange things that had been happening, most of them to do with deaths or disappearances overnight. Since then, we haven't received any further information, except that Innocence is suspected to be connected to this. We are to find this connection, if there is any and retrieve the Innocence."

"Hm... Understood."

More minutes passed by with neither of them saying anything. But again, Aki was the first one to break the silence. This time, asking on a slightly different topic.

"The Black Order..."

"Hm?" Allen mumbled.

"The Black Order. How do you see that that place? What is it to you?" Aki asked monotonously.

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Allen hesitated, but in the end it was a simple answer.

"The Order huh...?" Allen mused, watching the sky, smiling lightly. Many months had passed by from when he first joined the Order, and in that short time he had made many good friends and memories. Aki seemed to be more open to him than before, and that thought made him smile. It should be safe to trust her... Maybe she wasn't as bad as he thought after all. He continued confidently. "That place is my home. It's where I come back to. Where my friends are."

"Those guys, huh?" Aki muttered. She had suddenly tensed up when Allen mentioned his friends. "... It makes me curious, Walker..."

"About what?" Allen cocked his head in questioning.

"What are they like? Your friends I mean..." She asked, prepared to listen intently.

Allen's eyebrows raised in mild surprise, but answered her anyway.

"Well, lets see... Lenalee. She's someone who would try and help everyone she can; she saved me a couple of times in my missions past. She worries a lot of the time, and sometimes I think that's not necessary. She's become a close friend of mine and I can usually depend on her..."

After pausing for a moment, Allen continued. "Hmm... Kanda. I wouldn't exactly call him one of my closest friends; he's more of a borderline comrade than a friend. He's tried to kill me on several occasions before, you've seen what he can do, sometimes he can be a real jerk. Although, when it really comes down to it, he can pull through just as easy. Now I'm also friends with Lavi-"

"Lavi?"

"Ah yes, you haven't met him yet. He's the Bookman Jr."

"So what's he like?"

"Oh, he isn't all that hard to miss." Allen continued half-amusedly. "He's got red hair, an eye patch and a mischievous attitude. He's a prankster at heart, but although he may not act like it, he's extremely bright. I haven't known him long at all, but he really is a good friend."

"I see..."

"Everyone else too. Komui, the science department, the finders, they're all good people." Allen suddenly got curious. "By the way, why the sudden questions?"

"It's nothing..." Aki turned away from him once more. Her tone immediately losing the interest it had from before. "It's not like I need you guys anyway, I'll get by somehow..."

"Despite what you said, I consider you my friend already." Allen gave her that same smile that he always did. Somehow, it did not seem as annoying to Aki as it did before.

Aki stared at him, a little shocked, but then she reverted to her calm expression from before. "You know..." The fainest of smiles appeared on her face. "You're not as boring as I imagined you to be."

As she said this, she casually turned to leave, leaving Allen behind to wonder what that snippet of conversation was all about.

When the exorcists arrived at their destination, the sun was still high in the sky, so they began their search right after they checked in at the inn. But no matter where they searched, or who they asked, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. After a very long while, with their search coming up with nothing, Aki and Allen decided to call it a day. Allen was relieved to know that their rooms were on the top floor, which was not plagued by distractions from neighboring rooms.

After settling in properly, Allen was soon nodding off to sleep. However, just when he was about waltz into dreamworld, the sound of his door opening made him perk up. He calmed down when he realized who it was.

He smiled. "You do know that your room's next to this one don't you Aki?"

Aki said nothing as she walked over to the window. She turned to him and said tiredly, "My room doesn't have a window, so I'm borrowing yours for a second."

Leaning out the window, Aki grabbed the window frame and used it to clamber onto the roof. Allen, being his curious self, stuck his head out the window and looked up. He saw Aki settling on the flat rooftop, almost half-asleep already.

Allen sighed. "You sure you don't want to sleep in your own room?" He called.

Aki replied from the roof, not even moving from her position to talk to him. "No, I like the roof very much thank you."

"Why is that?"

Aki turned away so he couldn't see her face and gave a small smile. "I guess it's because I'm not lonely up here. What, with the wide expanse of sky full of stars, who wouldn't..."

"Ah, is that so...?" Allen glanced up at the sky with a distant look in his eye. He couldn't remember clearly, but he'd probably been very lonely once, before he met Mana.

"Anyway, Good night Walker." Aki called out once more.

Without giving Allen time to respond, Aki was already fast asleep. Gentle snores whispered in the air. There was no more use in talking to her.

* * *

**A/N: This was mainly an introduction to Aki-kun's confusions and stuff, but other than that. Unnecessary stuff in my opinion, but I had to put that stuff in there somewhere! I apologize for any misspellings, grammatical errors, or plain bad writing. If you can point these out to me, I'll be sure to take your advice into account. To find out what the first paragraph is about, you'll have to read the next chapter. Don't worry, I have it finished already. Anyway, concerning the story, is it too confusing? Corny? (oh please let it not be corny!) Boring? Tell me! I need to know in order to improve! But about this chapter, did I characterize Allen properly? So, anyway... Review! Please! Love it? Hate it? Tell me what you think! (Much appreciated ;P).  
**

**- Aki-Chan**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray man, just Aki-Kun and this story. Thanks.**

**A/N: This is a continuation, part 2 of Aki-Kun's mission. By the way, I really wish I could make it up to you guys for delaying this and the last chapter for so long... Any suggestions? Maybe I should read and review all your stories, my faithful readers, hmm? Every single one. It'll be difficult work, but it'll be well worth it. So how about it? My way of apologising depends on what you guys think. Anyway, got a new chapter for you. Hope you all like it!**

**- Aki-Chan**

**WARNING: If you do not like [a little bit of] graphical imagery of sadistical torture (to a bad guy), I suggest you take all sensitive readers out of the reading zone. Thank you.**

**Chapter 11: Wrong.**

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The next morning, Allen woke up feeling rather peppy. Bright yellow sunlight was flooding in through his window, casting the timber floor in a refreshing glow. As welcoming as it looked, the world outside the space he was currently occupying was bitterly cold. Shivers shook his body, as soon as his feet touched the floor. Looking around, Allen saw his excorcist coat hung on a nearby rack, practically begging him to put it on, which he did. Immediately. Whilst doing up the last buttons on his coat, sudden movement drew his attention to the window. Aki climbed up through the window, landing with a soft thud on the timber, which creaked quietly as she walked over to the door. Recovering from his momentary shock, and remembering that Aki stayed on the roof the night before, he smiled warmly, greeting her.

"Morning Aki, how long have you been awake?"

"Since dawn. You sure took your time getting up," she stated, mildly teasing. Straightening her coat which she appeared to have already worn and her hand on the doorknob, Aki turned to Allen with an orderly face. "Get ready. We're going out to continue in five minutes." She opened the door and left quietly, so that Allen can prepare himself.

Several hours later, the exorcists were still coming up with nothing useful. The sun was already sinking from it's high point in the sky as it neared the late afternoon. Sitting at a shaded bench watching the throngs of people go by, Allen slumped. Aki had insisted on continuing to search, so he was by himself... Again.

"Why does this always happen to me?" Allen cried, shaking his head.

They'd been at it for quite a while now, and still nothing important, except for the select few who would mumble something about sudden deaths and then walk off, tending to their own buisness. There were also other cases where the townsfolk found the remains of people who had died as nothing but dust, so this confirmed the workings of an Akuma in the town. The exorcists still didn't know how these incidents would relate to Innocence, as it was an Akuma doing the killing as far as they could determine, but nothing else was of relevance.

"The report had told us that if nothing came up in two more days, we were to report back to headquarters." Allen said to himself, placing his hands on his chin, contemplating his next move. Standing up and stretching, he heaved a sigh. "In any case, guess I'd better go and catch up to Aki now. Maybe she's found something."

In the crowds of people, Aki spotted no-one suspicious, or even slightly resembling shady. In fact, you could say that it was a little bit boring. Biting her lip, she started to look around once more until someone called out to her, causing her to stop.

"Yo!" A man wearing a plain, white t-shirt and glasses that hid his eyes walked up to her. He had messy, curly black hair and a scruffy-looking chin. He looked well out of place in the town; The definition of shady.

Aki turned to scrutinize him, wondering if he was able to help in her investigation, despite how unusual he appeared to be.

"You wouldn't happen to be looking for something, would you young lady?" He asked her, looking about innocently, acting rather curiously.

"As a matter of fact, I am." Aki nodded, as she looked about cautiously. "Have you seen anything strange lately? Me and my comrade have been searching all day."

"Ah..-" He lighted the cigarette he had in his mouth, and continued speaking through smoking it. "The townsfolk wouldn't know much about anything as they mind their own business, but I can tell you that there've been strange happenings out the west end of town, mainly in the outskirts."

Aki nodded cautiously, but then got suspicious. "How would you know this? I know that you're not from around here, now speak." It was a little bit odd. A random man just happens to know that these things happen at a particular place. They've heard barely anything of the sort from anyone they've asked.

"Ah, how did you guess-?" The man flashed Aki a wide grin to which she flinched at it's almost-ferocity, but he retracted it just as quickly.

"So-" She started, but he cut her off.

"I pass by every now and again." He glanced up at the clock in the distance, his jaw dropping slightly, almost making the cigarette fall out of his mouth. "My my, is that the time? Sorry, but I must get going now. Good day." He then hobbled off past her, down the streets and disappeared from view in the rush of the crowd.

"What an strange man..." Aki mused staring after him, but Allen's voice calling out to her on her other side caught her attention.

"Aki! Have you found anything?" Allen rushed over, genuinely curious.

"Yeah. Someone's spotted strange things happening on the west end of town."

Allen's face brightened up considerably at the good news. "Great! Let's go while there's still time before dinner!" He cried happily, surprising himself with his own vigor.

After taking a couple of paces away, Allen noticed Aki hadn't moved from her initial spot. She stood still with her eyes fixated on the floor, scrutinizing it with a slight frown on her face. Allen called out to her worriedly, tilting his head in concern.

"Aki are you okay?"

Aki blinked as she looked up, suddenly snapping out of her musings and looking around. Catching sight of Allen's concerned face, she lightly smiled and nodded, confirming his question. However, as she made her way over to join him, she still wondered why that other man bothered her so. The image of his grin was embedded into her mind, sickeningly vivid. Aki shook her head, frowning again. Regardless of which, he's the only lead they'd gotten so far, so they might as well follow it.

Soon enough the exorcists were trudging through the shrubbery in the western outskirts of the town, searching hard for any clues in the orange glow of the afternoon. Allen sat and slumped again while he scratched his head feverently, trying to rack his brains for thoughts on why there was still nothing showing up though they had searched for such a long time. He was actually very eager to find out, and their blank results confused him. Shrugging to himself, Allen brushed himself off and attempted to keep searching when a sudden chill came over him. Was there someone out there? Allen looked about nervously, his eyes scanning the darkness of the nearby trees for anything that may jump out at him. Thinking it to be his imagination, he continued searching. Any Akuma that comes into his detection range would be picked up by his eye, so Allen wasn't completely worried.

A long way away, where the town looked as big as a brick. An Akuma lay in wait. It's eyes, malevolently glinting peered down over it's hooked beak to the figures it could see searching just outside the town. It's eyes whirred mechanically and it's pupils swelled and contracted. It willed it's eyes to go closer, to zoom in on the figures. Target located. A young boy with white hair and the familiar black coat.

"_Exorcist_," It hissed, eyes flashing now that its found it's target. Spreading out its bat-like wings, it took soundlessly to the air, hovering in place once its position was satisfactory. Opening its beak, a cannon like barrel protruded, but as it extended, its barrel grew smaller until it was no more than that of a sniper rifle. Lines dotting its vision formed a target as it zeroed in on its prey. As purple light gathered on the end of the gun, it's face split to form a typical Akuma smile. "_Target lock-on, goodbye Exorcist._"

"It's hopeless!" Allen cried, falling to the ground. The leaves beneath him crunched as he rolled over to stand again. He heaved a sigh and went to turn around when something whizzed past his ear, striking the tree trunk beside him. He turned sharply. "What was that?" Allen asked anxiously to no one in particular.

Aki who was searching not too far away, turned at his exclamation. "Did you find anything?" she asked, walking up to him.

Saying nothing, Allen pointed his finger at where the object hit the trunk. It had embedded itself deep within the bark, fraying it's numerous external edges. The hole was no larger than a dime, and tiny wisps of purple smoke leaked out of it incessantly.

Aki stiffened reflexively. "A sniper," she said. The Akuma were close.

A long way away, the level 2 Akuma contracted it's sniper gun. It hissed. "_The exorcist got away_." Having failed it's initial plan, the Akuma gave a signal. Level one Akuma suddenly appeared on all sides and swiftly flew over to the designated place.

Back in the clearing, Allen suddenly glanced up at the sky, his eye's whirr indicated it's activation as his pupil turned red. He was slightly surprised at what he saw.

"Akuma in large numbers are headed this way!" Allen called over his shoulder to Aki. He gritted his teeth anxiously as he awaited their arrival.

The first group crashed through the trees with their screeches echoing through the air. They aimed their guns directly at the exorcists, who were ready for them, and initiated their relentless barrage.

"Get down!" Allen shouted to Aki, to which she complied without arguement.

Allen with his arm already transformed, dodged most of the bullets, blocked those he couldn't evade and struck them down as he closed the gap between them. Jumping back, Allen was faced with yet another group of Akuma. He continued to fight them just as he did the last group. The exorcists eventually got split up, neither knowing the other's position.

"Akuma huh..." Aki transformed Tenbatsu and pounced on a nearby Level 1 Akuma. Making a slashing motion with her hands, she cut through it's hardened skin effortlessly and landed on the ground safely as the Akuma exploded behind her. Looking at her hands, the Akuma blood seeped into the Innocence's red indents, almost as if it was drinking it up. It was then that something began to change.

Her heart began to pound loudly in her ears, and as a wave of nausea swept over her. She dropped to one knee, panting as her chest constricted, making it hard for her to breathe. As Aki closed her eyes, her conciousness seemed to drop away. Within the embodiment of her mind's eye, she stood on shapeless ground as she stared up at the creature above. Aki knew what was going to happen next, and she expected it, maybe even welcomed it. This being - this shapeless creature was her innocence. Tenbatsu. It reached out towards her, enveloping her figure in it's hazy darkness.

"We_ will fight._" The blackness said in a voice that had neither tone nor emotion. No distinguishing line between friendliness or hostility. A dark and empty void. It continued. "_You really think you are_ _capable enough? Don't you dare humour us. These decisions you make will only cause regret. You have no need for allies or enemies, only righteousness. So stop this nonsense, let go. Leave everything to us._"

"_Justice above all. As all will be nothing, and nothing becomes all." _Aki and the voice of innocence said in unision, like a pledge.

It has never been wrong before, so she trusts it with all her heart. However, Aki would never have expected it to say something so conflicting as it did just now. As the words sank in, an immeasurable feeling of confusion washed over her. Aki could do nothing but stand.

"How could I be so stupid?" Aki scolded herself, a devilish grin spreading across her face as her body began to shake with mirth. "I don't need it. Not now, not ever. What use are they to me? Tenbatsu. Lead me on the path to righteousness." As she succumbed to the innocence's darkness, all morality and reason washed away, and only one deep desire remained. That deep desire for fighting... and destruction.

Opening her eyes to the outside world, nothing has changed. They were still being ambushed by the Akuma. As she straightened up Aki looked about and grinned. But it was no longer _Aki_ staring out of those eyes. No. It was Tenbatsu. It had taken over her body, leaving Aki's consciousness to sleep somewhere in the back of the mind, dormant and oblivious to the world. Staring at her hands for a moment and seeing the weapon still encasing her hands, Aki smiled. Suddenly, a trio of Akuma blasted through the trees and loomed over her, chattering excitedly amongst themselves.

"_Ooh, a pretty lady exorcist." _One snickered, licking it's lips.

"_Wahaha! She looks funny!"_ Another grinned.

"_Who cares? She's mine!_" The last shouted at the other two, bearing it's fangs at Aki.

Aki - or rather the possessor - sighed. "You Akuma are all the same. Foolhardy, impudent, and annoying._" _She struck all of them at a speed none of them could register, and Aki smiled as they exploded, still with shocked expressions on their ugly faces. Aki tossed her head back and started laughing. A chilling laughter that sounded like it was barely within the reaches of sanity. Spotting a large horde on their way to assault the exorcists, Aki swiftly made her way towards them, killing intent almost literally seeping out of her being. "They all. Must. Die." With that brief statement, Aki left the ground, leaping to attack the Akuma.

Meanwhile, Allen was very busy keeping the Akuma at bay. He had reverted to his innocence_-_gun form, as there were too many to take on with his claw-like arm alone.

"They just keep coming, don't they? They were waiting for us the whole time." Allen gazed over to where many Akuma disappeared in his detection range. He smiled. "Looks like Aki's not doing too bad either." Reverting his attention back to his own battle, Allen shot ten more Akuma out of the sky, before using Cross grave on another group, eliminating them completely.

Looking here and there, Allen spotted no more attackers and slumped on the floor. Tired but triumphant.

"That was surprising." He said smiling to himself. Then looking about innocently, he wondered. "I wonder where Aki is? I haven't seen her since the start of the ambush..." He trailed off. "Something could have happened to her... Oh no!" He cried, realising and jumping up, panicking as he did. "If something did happen to her, Komui would kill me for sure!" Allen paced around, unsure of what to do.

Whilst he was doing this, his eye activated suddenly. Looking up, alarmed, Allen saw an Akuma falling straight towards him.

"Ah!" He exclaimed, jumping out of the way as the large body of the Akuma crashed through the trees and landed with a loud crash on the forest floor.

As Allen looked more closely at the Akuma, he saw it was torn up pretty bad, yet still alive to his surprise. A figure was seen sitting on top if it, who Allen quickly identified as Aki. She was looking down at the Akuma, with her hands at its neck, ready to snap it if the need arises. In a voice colder than ice she hissed a question to the Akuma.

"Tell me... Who sent you to ambush us?" She wrapped her hand tighter against it's neck, trying to force a confession.

"_Don't be a fool, like I'll tell you!"_ It spat, trying to move, but was held still by Aki.

"I'll enjoy watching you die..." She laughed. Leaning closer she finished on an even colder note. "...Bit... by... bit..." She whispered sadistically, slurring her words. She then jumped off the Akuma and began to tear off it's limbs without mercy. One by one. Each of the detached limbs continued to convulse, as the main body was tortured even more.

Agonised screams were heard as the Akuma became more and more deformed, it's blood pooled and splattered on the ground and the mass on the ground twisted and contorted sickeningly. Allen stood stock still, his face pale and his expression horrified. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"S-stop it..." He murmered. Even if it was an akuma, it just wasn't right. "Stop it." Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, he tried to stay under control, but as a fleck of blood splattered onto his face, he outright snapped. "Stop it!" He yelled, reaching out his arm and knocked away Aki with unrestrained force.

Aki flew across the clearing and smashed through the trees, toppling them as she did. Allen cautiously followed after her and stood a fair distance away, watching her pick herself up slowly. Standing up whilst slightly swaying, Aki walked over to Allen, an uncharacteristic smile on her face. She looked up directly to face him, and saw his expression contorted with confusion and anger.

"What are you doing, Aki? Why did you do it?" Allen asked weakly. He seemed to not know what was going on anymore. "Akuma, they too have conscious souls that need saving. They wish to be freed..." He started. "... But no one should need to witness that! It's just wrong." He objected, unable to meet her eyes.

Aki gave no response to this, but instead continued to approach him. Without warning, she suddenly ran at him. Allen was shocked, but dodged her attack just in time. With swift movements, the two of them weaved through the trees, exchanging blows whenever they met. Suddenly cornered with nowhere to run, Allen was forced to fight back, but he couldn't find the heart to willingly hurt her, even in her current state. As the strikes kept coming, Allen could only watch in bewilderment. He had to say something, his arm was about to give out at any minute. Flinching again to the clanging sound that his arm made when struck, Allen finally faced the offender, resolve clearly shown within his eyes.

"What are you doing? Stop it!" He screamed, but his cry fell upon deaf ears. "It's me Allen, your friend! Can't you hear me? Stop it! Aki!"

His comrade threw punches at him relentlessly, her eyes void of any emotion. After finding the strength to push her back, Allen distanced himself from her and watched the girl cautiously. Aki smiled at him.

"You must be Allen Walker." She said, tipping her head to the side almost mockingly. "Hmm... funny, I thought Aki would make a better choice of friends than this. Weak boy." She began pacing slowly around Allen, watching him silently.

Aiming his Innocence at Aki, he asked, confused. "Who are you? Aren't you Aki? What happened to her?" His voice gaining volume with each question asked.

"People like you are of no use." She said, ignoring his questions. Crouching, she prepared to pounce on him. "Disappear, for the sake of this world." From her crouch, she sprung like a wildcat, fully intent on causing harm to Allen.

Allen yelped and blocked her attack with his arm just in time. Gritting his teeth, he distanced himself one again and began shooting at her from his perch up in the tree.

Narrowly dodging each bullet, Aki gradually caught up to where Allen was and tackled him out of the tree branch.

Allen who had fallen on the floor, a little dazed, had gotten back up again, stumbling. Suddenly, his hands were caught in Aki's grip as he had not seen her coming. Tearing his left hand out of her grip Allen tried to free the other, but to no avail. Instead, Aki kept bending it back... and back, until eventually. Something snapped. The sound hadn't fully registered in his mind when the pain came, making him fall to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain. He inspected his fingers. They were bent oddly, and some places turned dark purple with bruising. Some of the bones stuck out from the skin, and blood flowed freely from them, staining his hands. The nerves sent waves of relentless pain trailing through his fingers, and up his arm. He stared up at Aki whose form stood still, towering over him. Finding the strength to stand he faced his attacker and used his left hand to slash at her, taking her by surprise. Only half concious of his actions, Allen stumbled, but he had hit the target: Aki's Innocence. It was acting strange, so he figured her odd behaviour had something to do with it.

Lifting them up to inspect them, she was shocked to see faint white lines appear over the reddened rings where he had slashed, making them crackle with what looked like electricity. Looking back at Allen, she faintly smiled, closing her eyes thoughtfully.

"It makes no difference, I can't control this mind for much longer anyway." Aki tipped her head to the side. "Aki can't stop me, in fact she needs me. I'll be back, but in the meantime, I'd like to see you try to befriend Aki." She shook her head at Allen like he was a foolish boy. "That... Will certainly be... Interesting," She whispered before falling to the ground, unable too keep her control any longer.

Allen, on his knees, edged towards her warily. Seeing her stir slightly, Allen froze and watched from where he was. Aki awoke, looking about like she'd just woken from a deep sleep.

Pushing her body off the ground with her hands, Aki looked about. She was shocked to see Allen kneeling a little way away, holding his bloodied right hand with his left. Wait... Bloodied right hand? Aki crawled over slowly to where Allen was, confused. What happened? Why was Allen looking so warily at her? From the looks of it, Allen's hand seemed to be broken, the akuma were long gone, blood and scratches were on her innocence - blood that would have immediately run off if it was an Akumas', and scratches that matched the claw on Allen's innocence arm. Aki pieced the situation together. Tenbatsu almost lead her to do _that_ again.

Aki slammed the ground with her fist, roughly in anger. "Damn it!" She yelled.

Glancing up to look at Allen, she saw that he'd edged away from her slightly.

"Y-you are Aki, aren't you?" He asked, his voice guarded.

Aki stared back down at the floor and nodded. Looking back up at Allen, Aki gave him a concerned look, which looked a litle bit odd on her usually expressionless face.

"I'm afraid to ask, but... What did Tenbatsu - my Innocence - make me do?" She asked, her voice slightly wavering. Glancing at Allen's hand, Aki shifted uncomfortably. "I... I did that, didn't I?"

"Well, um..." Allen stuttered, starting to panic. "I'll heal. Anyway, it's really not your fault though-!" Seeing as Aki was visibly upset about the entire ordeal, Allen tried to conclude the matter as soon as possible.

"No! Enough! It's fine, lets not talk about this." Aki protested, immediately turning away from him and standing up. "Your hand still needs to be fixed up, so let's go."

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**A/N: What about that, people? Three guesses who the informant is? :D I have to admit that I got a little overexcited about writing that second part, simply because, well, I've been planning this event for quite a while. Do me a favour and comment on this idea, please? If you could drop a line in the reviews section, or just PM me, then that would be excellent. I'll be sure to answer your queries as much as I am able to. If not, then you'll have to wait for the story to unfold, yeah? I don't hate any of you... really! Okay, that's about it for this chapter (and wow! what a long one too...), and I'll get back to you all as soon as I can.**

**- Aki-Chan**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Grayman, but I do own Aki-Kun and this story.**

**A/N: Well, you wouldn't believe the reception the last two chapters got. In fact, I may have just lost about 5 readers who had just up and left, with no parting words except those that vaguely sound similar to "Your story sucks, I hate it now." Well, that's fine by me. As long as I can still get helpful encouragement from the rest of you guys who have kindly stayed by this humble writer... Oh gosh... I'm sounding all pretentious now. Sorry... Also, congratulations to _oOlslollypopOo_ for reviewing first about the informant. Yup, they were the first one to get it correct and got themselves a review for every chapter in each of their stories (Whew! it took me a while, but it was well worth it!). Well done! Now, enjoy this latest chapter as best you can! (From now on, If my story happens to suck REALLY badly, just ditch me with a few parting words, okay? Just saying).**

**- Aki-Chan**

**Chapter 12: Afflictions of the Aftermath**

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A restaurant situated in an alleyway, tucked away from the prying eyes of the general public was where a pair of exorcists dined. Well… Only one of the two ever ate anything, and the other just sat there unable to touch the food laid out before her. Beyond the mountain of empty plates and dishes was the other exorcist, who was eating like he was starved for days. The whole scene would have been a normal thing… If his left hand wasn't bandaged like a mummy as it was. Allen paused in his eating frenzy and peered around the mountain of dishes at Aki, who he saw hadn't touched a bite of her food since it was ordered.

He sighed heavily. "Come on Aki, you've got to eat something while you're here. Just looking at you makes me feel hungry," the boy said, taking another huge bite out of the bread he had in his hand.

"I don't want to. You just focus on your own food," Aki mumbled, disinterested. Instead, she looked pointedly at Allen's bandaged hand, a wave of something that slightly resembled guilt – but not entirely so – washed over her. "Your… Injury?"

"Ah!" Allen exclaimed, smiling broadly as he tried to wave it around in the air in a triumphant-like manner. "It feels better than it did before!" He grinned, attempting to move the fingers, but hurting himself in the process. "Ow!" He winced, trying to keep his voice low.

Looking at the insistent look Aki was giving him; Allen straightened up and looked at her squarely in the eye. "Aki..." He spoke with a determined tone. "This–." He raised his left hand. "Isn't your fault."

Aki stayed silent for a moment, then interjected quietly. "Will you just shut up...? I'm sick and tired of you saying that. Why don't you just accept the fact that it was me?" She then stood up and walked away, still leaving the food untouched.

Gazing through the fogged up windows, Aki raised a hand to wipe away some of the frosty whiteness on one of the panes, forming a little peek-hole in which she could observe outside the venue. It was almost pitch black outside, but Aki could still make out the roofs of the buildings from the sky. It looked like the weather was worse, with a light rain sweeping over the town, but not bad enough that the train will be delayed. They should be able to make it back to headquarters on schedule.

Just an hour before, the exorcists had to do a quick stopover at the hospital to patch Allen's hand up. The staff were uncertain, but agreed to help anyway. Once they'd left – which by that time it was very late – Aki had intended on returning to headquarters straight away, but Allen had insisted on getting a bite to eat in the restaurant, completely ignoring the hour. He said – In his own words – that he would "Die of starvation" if they postponed their meal any further. Aki was sceptical, but she gave in to his incessant nagging after a while. Aki took her mind off current situation by reflecting on their mission.

Their search and its conclusion were much too predictable. There was also the fact that the suspicious man earlier was almost definitely involved in the ambush. No Innocence, of course, so they'd be heading back to headquarters tomorrow. Frankly, Aki wondered how they were sent to their destination when there seemed only to be Akuma, and how they were sent to collect Innocence. She found this very odd indeed.

In the still of the night, a silhouette stood stark against the pale, grey moon. This took shape of a young girl who appeared to be sitting on a flying, floating thing. Surprisingly, the floating thing was able to talk; loud and incessantly too.

"Mistress Road, why'd you take Lero without the Millennium Earl's noticing! Lero! And at this late hour too! Lero!" It was a pink umbrella with a curved frame, giving it a gothic look, complete with a pumpkin head to match.

The girl sitting atop the pumpkin-headed umbrella just cackled. "Calm down and be quiet, Lero. I didn't set up this diorama play for nothing." She flicked the pumpkin-head as she said this, making the umbrella mumble another string of complaints.

"Hm? Oh, I think I can see the Akuma over there!" She cried. "Hurry and get me over there, Lero!" She smiled, hastening the umbrella to fly faster.

Surely enough, just a couple clearings away, Road could see the jagged corpse of an Akuma sticking out of the ground. Had it not been too dark, the Akuma would have been easy to spot with its huge size. Swooping in for a landing, Lero allowed the girl to hop off as it floated patiently beside her. Road walked up to the giant lug of metal and called to it.

"Hey you, Akuma! Are you still alive?" She called out in a playful tone.

The shuffling of metal could be heard as the Akuma shifted its body around to face the young Noah.

"_Of course I am, Master Noah_." It said in a respectful tone, which sounded very strange coming from an Akuma who usually spoke in loud, maniacal voices.

"You did an awfully good job at playing dead; I would have thought you really were dead if I hadn't found you just now." Road grinned. "So what have you found out about the girl? Can she be of any use to us?"

A weird sound emanated from the machine as it shook. It was laughing. "_She's an interesting one, that exorcist_…"

It proceeded to tell Road about it's findings. After it had finished, a smile spread across Road's face, relative to those which only Akuma and Noahs possess. Grabbing Lero in one swift motion, she pointed the umbrella at the Akuma calmly.

"You've done well. Okay! You can die now!" Road said, giggling as she did.

"_But–!_"

Before it began to protest, it had already self-destructed. No Akuma could refuse an order from a Noah. Turning on her heel Road began to walk away from the clearing.

"My my, did you really have to go that far, Road?" A deep, rich voice called out from behind her. "We did lose a lot of Akuma tonight."

Road looked over her shoulder to see Tyki in his human form, all in his usual human clothes.

"Tyki…" She pouted, "It was fun, so who cares! And why do you wear those things? Doesn't mean you look like those humans mean you have to dress like them." Road said mockingly, a look of disgust visible on her face.

"Meh." Tyki shrugged as the clothes appeared to disintegrate, and replacing them, his formal attire. His pale human skin turning an ashen grey tone, as his Noah form became present.

Whipping out his top hat out of nowhere and placing it nimbly upon his head, he accompanied Road on her way back to the town.

"Is this information for the Millennium Earl?" Tyki asked absentmindedly, lighting a cigarette he held in his mouth.

"No, but I do think we can use it to our advantage." Road replied, swinging Lero around. "By the way, thanks for helping out, Tyki. You're the best." She said, her bored tone completely betraying the words she spoke.

"But of course." Tyki smiled. "When threatened with death, people will do almost anything to escape. I wonder if the Order pays it's finders to betray them?" He shrugged. "Well, they're dead now, aren't they?"

"Who knows? And I don't care anyway!" Road exclaimed. "Lero! Please tell me you have some candy with you? I want candy right now!" Road pouted, smacking Lero into every tree they passed.

"No I– Oof! Don't–! Ack! Lero!"

The Noahs soon disappeared into the dark of the night; taking with them, their evil plans of malice.

The Order's building stood tall in all its glory, upon the rising of the sun the next morning. The two exorcists – Allen and Aki – had come home late from their mission the night before. There to greet them was Lenalee, but no-one told her of Allen's injury, and she was taking every bit of it like an overly worried older sister – Not unlike the behaviour of her brother when it came to her own well-being.

Allen avoided the topic of how his fingers got broken for the whole night before, claiming he was tired and needed to rest. However, Lenalee wouldn't let the topic go; she "cornered" Allen just as he left the dining hall after dinner that afternoon. She immediately launched into a conversation, but suddenly remembering that it would be shocking to demand answers right away, she started from a tone of concern.

"Allen, how's your hand?"

"Oh, hi Lenalee! Its fine, the head nurse said they were only minor fractures. They'd be good to go in about a week." Allen looked at his now properly bandaged hand and gave Lenalee a reassuring smile.

That smile turned into more of a grimace when Lenalee suddenly yanked his hand over so she could have a better look, which caused his arm to twitch involuntarily in pain. Beneath the bandages there was dark bruising, and raised nubs at odd points in the bandage showed the areas where the thin metal rods were fixated on his hand, holding the fractures in place. The sight of this made Lenalee deeply upset.

A thought suddenly crossed her mind and as it did, a dark look crossed her features. "Was it her?" She looked at Allen straight in the eye. "Was it Aki?"

A wordless response was all she needed from her much-too-modest comrade to know that her deduction was right.

"Ack! But, um, really, I'll be able to manage–."

Allen was suddenly cut off by an unexpected bout of rage from Lenalee.

"No! How can you say that? Did she even apologise to you?"

"Ah, uh, well… umm," Allen stuttered. Thinking back to the brief conversations they had after the incident, and frankly, none of them didn't seem to mention an apology. He sighed. "Not exactly," he confessed, still not giving a direct answer.

Allen looked away sheepishly, as Lenalee's searching eyes attempted to interrogate him once more. After a resigned sigh from Allen, Lenalee huffed and frowned.

"I'm going to have a word with her." She then stomped off, fuming, her boots clinking furiously on the stone floor.

"L-Lenalee–!" Allen attempted to call her back, but she was already gone.

Sitting at her desk in her room, Aki couldn't read a word. The book she was holding constantly slipped out of her fingers, thudding dully on the desk each time it did. The sound hollow and foreboding. She felt her fists clench.

"What the hell is wrong with me..?" She closed her eyes in contemplation.

Loud knocks on her door snapped her back to reality. Aki tensed herself reflexively. A muffled voice could be heard calling through the door.

"Aki, it's me, Lenalee. I want to talk to you, may I come in?"

It sounded more like a demand than a request. The coldness in her voice was evident. Aki knew why she was here. Either way, Aki didn't answer. However, the sound of a door opening, and slamming against the wall behind it indicated that the girl let herself in anyway. How rude.

Lenalee looked around the room indifferently and when she spotted Aki, she stiffened her shoulders and pursed her lips. Aki of course, couldn't see this, but Lenalee started talking anyway.

"Oh, Aki. I wasn't sure you were here."

She damn well _did_ know Aki was in her room. Where else would one retreat to, but the confines of their own domain?

"May I speak with you? I have some things I want to discuss."

_'Sarcasm-abusing bitch' _Aki thought.

She had not looked at Lenalee since the beginning of the conversation, but now Aki glanced at her with an icy expression. Since she was going to get cold reception, she may as well fight back. From the way Aki saw it, there's not a _thing_ to be discussed.

"Forgive me for answering a question with a question, but… Why the hell are you in my room? I didn't recall inviting you in." Aki answered.

"You know perfectly well why I'm here, now tell me – what did you do to Allen? Why's his hand like that?" Lenalee snapped immediately, dropping her friendly façade like a sack of potatoes.

Aki continued, her tone steadily growing louder unnoticeably. "That was his problem; he knew that he should have defended himself while he could–"

Aki stood up from her chair, knocking it over in the process and glaring at Lenalee with pure spite. "… But he didn't, which is why Walker is injured. As for you, _Ms_ Lee, you should mind your own business. This doesn't concern you," Aki spat, voice heavy with fury.

"_Concern _me?" Lenalee spluttered, astonished and furious at the same time. "It is my business as much as it is yours, or Allen's. My friend got hurt and I want to know why!" Lenalee argued, screaming now.

"I've already told you! Are you deaf you stupid bitch!" Aki yelled back at her. She could no longer keep herself under control. Her hands itched to punch the arrogant, sour-faced so-and-so, but instead, Aki spun around, grabbed the book she had been reading and threw it with all her might.

The sounds of cracking glass made her ears ring, and tiny crystal shards scattered all over the floor, bouncing like skipping stones around her feet. Looking up at the window again, Aki wasn't surprised. The jagged edges that still hung onto the window-frame stuck out hazardously. Glinting ominously, silently waiting for someone to touch their fingers against its powdered, but razor-sharp edges. Turning around, fringe falling over her eyes, she watched from underneath the curtain of black as Lenalee slightly backed away, her expression changing from shock to horror to blinded confusion; her gaze constantly shifting from Aki to the broken window behind her.

Still watching Lenalee intently from underneath her fringe, Aki continued speaking in a low voice.

"I can't afford to have bonds, so it's best if you left me alone." Aki looked at her clearly now, a look unclouded by rage, but her tone was still steely. "I don't like to, so don't let me be the one to cause pain to another. Or have you not seen enough death already?" The tone underlying her words were dark and foreboding. The message was clear.

Walking out of the room, glass shards crunching beneath her boots, Aki left Lenalee without another word, but not without seeing her face first. It was tear streaked. The dim light shining through the shattered window cast a long, dark outline on the floor. To any other person, it would have been just a shadow, but to Aki, it looked like a monster.

How ironic. At that moment, she really did feel like one.

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**A/N: I don't actually like this chapter much, but I've no idea why... Um, any OOC-ness? Because I personally can't see much besides the snappy-type, bitchy, etc., Lenalee, although some of you would consider this to be IC, I kind of don't. Mainly because I haven't got a negative OR a positive view on the girl, but this is written in the way Aki feels, so yeah. Don't judge me on that. Haha! Double chapter! Don't think I'm doing this just to gain a bit of favour. It's just my job. Now, reviews anyone?**

**- Aki-Chan**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Grayman, just Aki-Kun and this story.**

**A/N: Um, okay. The title of this chapter? I have no idea where the name came from, it just seemed right at the moment I wrote it, so no complaints, yeah? Now, I'll say that this chapter is a little bit weird for me to write, so the sequence and description may go spastic at times, so beware...**

**- Aki-Chan**

**Chapter 13: It Stinks of Suspicion.**

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Sneaking around in the shadows, a figure looked in and around corners. He hoped he wan't being followed. Pressing himself against the wall, he made his way around the Black Order. Poking his head around the corner, he looked around for anyone who followed him. He sighed in relief as he found none. Stepping into the dim glow of the lamp on the wall, a thick head of bright red hair became illuminated, and the exorcist Lavi skittered gleefully away. He had finally escaped from Bookman. The old panda gave him mountain loads of study to do. Maybe it was just because he was a Bookman. But in either case, the work often bored him to death. Lavi needed to get out once in a while.

Sauntering around, he eventually got to the central area, where a mass of finders were heading up to their dorms for the night. Looking around, Lavi spotted something interesting.

"Hohohoho! Well look what we have here..." Lavi chuckled lightly, spotting a girl he'd never seen before walking about.

She was an exorcist, and by the looks of it, she was relatively new. He grinned playfully, as he scampered over to where she was.

"New exorcist," he exclaimed, rubbing his hands together.

Time to do something Lavi-ish. "Introducing Lavi!" He whispered to himself, and then began his mad dash towards the girl.

There were still people up and about at this hour. A flood of finders wandered by. Conversation buzzed in her ears as Aki strolled through, unaware of anything and all. Too deeply immersed in her own thoughts to take notice of anything. The thudding of thick boots against the stone floor approached her. But, she never turned around until the final moment. Only briefly seeing the figure rushing towards her, Aki was startled when he jumped at her, arms outstretched.

"Hi there!" He shouted as he launched himself off of the ground, his rambunctious voice startling all those in the vicinity.

'_Oh shit!_' Aki thought, hurriedly looking around and panicking.

Alarmed, Aki attempted to distance herself by stepping back a couple of paces. Too late. He was much too close. The boy ended up grabbing Aki's lower legs instead, causing her to crash ungracefully to the ground.

Attempting to sit up but failing terribly, Aki's elbows stung as they had cushioned the impact, leaving uncomfortable grazes. Lifting her head, she saw a grinning red-headed boy seemingly growing out of her legs. No wait... He was just hugging them extra tightly. Wait... Hugging? That was highly uncalled for.

Her eyes narrowed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Aki growled, her tonation promising pain if he didn't answer correctly.

"Well whatcha' think? I was saying 'hello' to you." The boy blathered on, not even answering her question. "Oh, by the way, my name's Lavi. Nice to meetcha'." He finished after a short pause.

'_Lavi?_' That name sounded familiar. Aki looked at him up and down. Red hair, eyepatch, a stupidly big grin - which pissed her off - and his whole open attitude. She raised an eyebrow. Now she remembered.

"You must be Bookman Junior." She stated, her tone quickly becoming bored again.

Lavi blinked several times in astonishment, which looked weird because only one eye was visible. Then he chuckled lightly.

"I am, but... Nyaw, no need to be so formal. Please call me Lavi." He said, leaning his head against her leg, which he still had trapped in an awkward hug.

Aki noticed this and frowned. "Junior, if you don't mind..." She began calmly, her hands slowly balling up into fists.

"Get the hell off of me!" She screamed, attempting to kick him off in protest.

Lavi hurriedly let go and avoided Aki's kicks, and sat back smiling.

"Aren't you a cute one? You're even shorter than Moyashi-chan!" He announced, as if uncovering the greatest realisation.

Aki profusely held back her building annoyance towards this loquacious exorcist.

"Oh! I almost forgot! What's your name?" Lavi tipped his head to the side in inquiry, his hair flopping to the side rather comically.

Aki turned her head away from Lavi in annoyance and answered through a pout.

"I'm Aki. Aki Chiyo. Now are you going to leave me alone or not?" She glared at him again.

"Ah, but of course. But I'll tag along for a little while, cos' I've got a bit of a panda proble-." Lavi was suddenly cut off when something short and dark came colliding into the back of his head.

Aki identified it as a short, old man, who appeared to be an exorcist as well, judging from his coat. He had long grey hair styled in the shape of a question mark, and black makeup around his eyes.

"What are you doing out here, Lavi? I told you to start reading up on some history not ten minutes ago." The old man scolded Lavi, smacking him on the head a few more times. Then turning to Aki - who was still on the floor, looking at the two of them oddly - he apologised for Lavi's rudeness. "Forgive me, but he gets up to mischief a whole lot and never does his work..."

"Hm... I see." Aki stated, shrugging. Then looking at him curiously, she asked, "I don't believe we've met before, who are you?"

"I haven't got a real name, but please refer to me as Bookman." The old man said, folding his hands together, hiding them from view inside the coat's sleeves. Nodding his head in the direction of the upside-down Lavi, he introduced him, a dissaproving tone evident in his voice. "That idiot over there is my apprentice, Lavi. You musn't mind him too much."

After Bookman dragged Lavi away, Aki took off in the other direction. They were interesting characters, the Bookman and his apprentice. Aki wondered whether she should take the chance to know people better. The thought caught her off guard. She suddenly stopped walking.

"It's much too risky. One wrong move, and I'd..." She shook her head, refusing to continue.

Brushing that thought aside, Aki walked on. Reaching her destination, she heaved a sigh. The last time she'd been here, Aki nearly got chopped down by a extremely pissed off samurai. Hopefully, this visit will be a little less... eventful, than before. There wasn't any other way, Aki really needed to clear her mind and this seemed to be a suitable answer. Leaning her weight on the door, she pushed the door to the training room open. The warm air blew into her face from it's sealed interior and she heard the sounds of something being struck at a rapid pace. She saw a tall, all-too-familiar figure a little way aways from her. She frowned. Unfortunately, Aki had run into the samurai Yu Kanda once again.

Concentrating on his training, his back to Aki, Kanda didn't seem to make any move that seemed to indicate he noticed her come in. Closing the door silently, Aki continued to watch Kanda train. His movements were fluid and he never seemed to waste any energy in any of his strikes. The dummies positioned around him seemed battered beyond repair, their stuffing poking out of them at random places. Kanda himself wore a dark coloured shirt, which fitted him rather well, Aki noted, lean muscles emphasised. Aki didn't know why, but she couldn't do anything but just stand there to watch him. Mesmerised by his movements. So much that she didn't see the dummy come flying across the room towards her until it was too late.

"Ack!" She gasped as it collided with her midsection.

Aki managed to catch it somewhat and slow the impact, but it still hurt all the same. Momentum lifted her off her feet as she flew backwards with surprising speed. Crashing into the wall behind her, she let the dummy fall to the floor as she herself felt the impact from the wall. Her head spun, her vision swam. Managing to get back into focus, she saw Kanda looking at her with his seemingly usual stony faced expression. Analysing the situation, it seems that Kanda had broken the dummy off its post and sent it flying into her. Retracting the hand he punched with, Kanda glared at Aki.

"If you're not going to do anything but watch, then leave! Che!" Kanda exclaimed.

From the angle Aki was looking at him, it looked like he was looking down on her. Now _that_ was just a little bit demeaning.

Aki flinched from his statement, but found her regular mindset coming back. She smirked.

"What was it…?" She pondered. "Ah yes, you're Kanda. We never did finish that fight we had earlier, did we? How about it?" She drawled calmly, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"No," Kanda grumbled almost immediately, turning back to the dummies with apparently increased vigour. But of course, Aki didn't buy it.

Shrugging absentmindedly, Aki pushed on. "I've got all the time in the world." Sitting up and pushing off the ground, Aki unexpectedly commenced the attack.

Sensing something fast approaching, Kanda whirled around and expertly blocked Aki's wild barrage of attacks. Her movements were unpredictable, but he saw that she had many wasted movements. He knew of course, that he had the advantage. Though Aki didn't give in.

Gauging her opponent's attacks, she carefully calculated her power and technique proportion in her moves. Concentrating now, she controlled her breathing and attempted many times to find an opening in his fighting style. She found none. But it was to be expected, no longer was she fighting against any unskilled thug. No, she was fighting against someone with as much experience as her, maybe even more, and this thought was unsettling. He will be hard to beat.

After what seemed like a long time, Aki was beginning to feel frustrated. For every hit that Aki landed on Kanda, he had two to counter it. Panting heavily, Aki rushed in one final time to try and win this match, despite how useless it seemed.

Her freestyle fighting instincts kicking in, she first attempted a multiple move manoeuvre. Kanda blocked her back-fist first. Then twirling around, Aki tried to elbow him in his midsection. That of course had no effect, since Kanda redirected it easily. Gritting her teeth, Aki dropped low to do a leg sweep. This made Kanda jump slightly to get out of the way. Aki thought she had him, but then again she was caught off guard. Whilst he was still in the air, Kanda crouched and used the other leg to deliver a sweeping blow to the side of her head. The impact made Aki scrunch up her eyes in pain; her skull felt like it would break. Sent flying again, she crashed into a nearby pillar and fell to the floor, rag-doll style. Her left ear was burning and red streaked across her vision. Bleeding again. Perhaps she was taking this too far. Taking her hand up to her ear, she felt how scorching hot it was.

Kanda strode across the room to where Aki lay with a subtle _tmp, tmp_ sound. Looking down at her, Kanda gave a snide smile. Aki scowled. He wasn't even breathing heavily for goodness sake, how on earth is she ever going to be able to beat this guy? He was unbelievable. Looks like that muscle wasn't just for show.

"If you fight like that from now on, you're going to die." He said in the cruelest tone you'd have ever heard. Walking away, steps slightly heavier, he continued. "Save yourself the trouble and go back to where you came from. You don't belong here."

Aki stared in wide-eyed shock at the ceiling. She almost refused to believe it, but what he said was true. Flipping over, she called after him.

"What's the point? From what I can tell, neither do you. What is it about this place that you should hate it so?"

Kanda didn't reply, ignoring her indefinitely.

Carrying a pile of files that were being delivered to Komui, Reever walked by the training room. He stopped to glance inside for a moment.

He sighed. "That's very much like Kanda anyway. He's always getting into trouble with the other exorcists." He muttered to himself, steping inside and calling to the exorcists.

"Hey Kanda! Aki! Komui wants you both in his office! And please hurry, or else he'll fall asleep again!"

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**A/N: My goodness, would you look at that... Just a little more Kanda-ness added in to spice things up a little. Now, if you didn't notice, I really like describing people by their hair (colour, style, shininess, etc.), sorry if this annoys anyone, but I really can't describe someone's facial or bodily features well... Oh, and for those wondering why Lavi doesn't yell "STRIKE!" like he usually does, let me make this clear that Aki is only cute to him in a fluffy bunny sort of way... Anyway, in regards to concerns about my updating rate, I'm terribly sorry to inform that I may be taking a LONG break from this. Maybe another month or so... Sorry to dump all this on you just after I got back, but I'll try to get back to you all as soon as I can. In the meantime, don't worry about this story... Some of you may think about abandoning this story after you've read this, but I certainly won't. I'll continue writing eventually. You all just watch. Anyway, sorry for the rambles... Reviews anyone?**

**- Aki-Chan**


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